


Merits and Faults of Intriguing Alien Biology

by Lacertae



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Dubious Consent, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Interspecies Relationship, Interspecies misunderstandings, M/M, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Quadrant Confusion, more serious than it seems, quadrant flipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-08
Updated: 2013-01-31
Packaged: 2017-11-09 11:08:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/454765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacertae/pseuds/Lacertae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat's first experience with human biology leaves him quite interested and a tad bit more obsessed with humans and their weird, creepy bodies than he would like to admit.</p><p>As for Dave, he has feelings of his own to consider, and things somehow work out.</p><p>Karkat/Dave, written for the kink meme. Plot more 'serious' than the summary makes it seem like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where Karkat gets interested

**Author's Note:**

> Karkat and nipples. You've been warned.

**Chapter 01: Where Karkat gets Interested**

**\---  
**

“Strider…”

Dave paused mid-strike, shitty sword held up high in both hands, and glanced at his opponent, staring at the troll from behind his black shades.

“What now Vantas,” he grunted out, trying to show all his annoyance with the least amount of inflection in his voice. He was quite good at that, especially when it related to Karkat. “You already want out? Too scared of big bad me to take on a beating? Poor little Karkat quivering in front of the mighty sword of justice bestowing on your ass the judgement of a god?”

Karkat growled in reply, eyes narrowing a fraction to show he didn’t want any bullshit from him; his eyes were not actually looking at his face though, so Dave bit down on the rest of his convoluted speech and followed his stare, searching for what was holding the troll’s attention enough to make him pause during training.

“What,” he asked again.

There was nothing wrong with his body. They hadn’t even started fighting, so there was no bleeding wound or anything on there –just the expanse of his naked chest. Nothing unusual.

“Are you ogling me Karkles,” he tried then, knowing exactly what to say to rile him up. “Is my human manliness too much for your poor alien brain, are you going to end up drooling all over the floor, falling down before me, swooning over this hot piece of Strider?”

Karkat’s eyes snapped up to his face, teeth bared into a snarl, and his grip on his weapons tightened on reflex.

“What. No. Fuck you Strider, the hell are you saying. I was just,” his eyes shifted back down again, and Dave raised one eyebrow, still not getting what was so interesting on his chest. “Looking at… _those_ ”.

Karkat lifted one sickle and pointed at Dave’s chest with it; aside for a few scars, reminders of old battles with his brother on the roof, there was nothing there to look. Just the wide expanse of pale skin, and…

Something clicked in Dave’s brain, and he snorted, shaking his head.

“What, my nipples? You up and creepy over my coolkid love nubs, Kar? Do I need to pose like a model, giving out nipple privileges to all the trolls who deserve it, until everybody has had their share of Strider nipple swag?”

Karkat looked away sharply, and grunted. “No. Just. They look… weird.”

“Don’t tell me trolls don’t have nipples,” Dave was about to rant on, explaining the valuable assets of nipples, especially on pliant, gullible females with big boobs and what trolls were missing if their troll girls didn’t have them, but Karkat’s eyes returned to his chest, focused and sharp, and all of sudden Dave felt a bit less comfortable.

He had decided to take off his godtier shirt because it was easier to train and fight without the cape flapping around –it was cool, yes, fucking rad, but it was seriously disappointing how bad it weighed him down when he tried to flash-step– but he hadn’t expected to be ogled at so blatantly.

Especially not by Karkat. If anything, he had expected to fight.

There was really nothing interesting in those small nubs called nipples. If he had been Rose or Harley, then he would have agreed with Karkat’s disturbing curiosity, but fuck –he was a guy, and there were just two pink things on his chest that looked like nothing at all.

Also, he had not just said that looking at Rose’s nipples would be justified. Totally not.

“Dude, listen. Vantas. Fuck you. I’m up _here_ ,” there was a certain sort of irony in the situation, Dave knew that –but feeling like a girl with big boobs wasn’t exactly his idea of a good alternative to fighting.

Karkat glanced up, clearly not embarrassed by his blatant staring, and that somehow made it even worse. In fact the troll looked rather pissed off.

Not that he had any other expression aside for that one. But still. Principles were principles.

“No staring at my drool-worthy body when we have to fight, Vantas,” he called out sternly, trying to coax the stupid troll back to what they should be doing instead. “I’m here to train, not have you obsess over me. I’m not interested in your fucked up hate-quadrant”.

What followed was one of the longest, most complicated tirades Karkat had ever dished out, including a few insults and paraphrased metaphors Dave had never heard before; if Karkat had been any less loud or any less idiotic, the coolkid would have even commended him on the mass of complicate, wordy verbal abuse he could come up with without thinking, but alas.

Too loud. Not cool enough. Karkat had a lot to learn.

“–and if you think I’d ever want to fill my fucking quadrant with the likes of you, when you so obviously are part of a subculture with no respectable romance nor stable relationships, it means you clearly have some sort of terminal illness to your thinkpan, for which I’ll be glad to just end your suffering once and for all this instant, just to show you how magnanimous I can be”.

Thinking he’d allowed Karkat to rant enough for the day, Dave waved one hand dismissively and coughed to attract the troll’s attention again.

“Hey, Karkat. Karkat, shut up for a moment. Earth calls crazy loud alien. Or. Well. Meteor calls crazy loud alien”.

Karkat’s growl almost made Dave shiver. _Almost_.

“Are you going to let go of your weird obsession for my nipples enough to fight against me, or should I fill a restraining order with Pyrope? You know she’ll be on my side if I file it under inappropriate behaviour…”

Karkat’s response was a low, echoing noise that went straight down Dave’s back –a sort of growling vibration filled with clicks– and then he attacked.

With a smirk, Dave quickly resumed his defensive stance and met Karkat’s weapons with his own, the clash of metal against metal, muscles straining to overpower the other.

The contact lasted only a few seconds, because then both Karkat and Dave backed off, circling each other, eyes narrowed in concentration, ready to attack again.

“Now we’re talking,” Dave murmured, his lips twitching in amusement. “Show me what you’ve got”.

Riling Karkat up was definitely one of his pastimes, but fighting with him was on a different level altogether; the adrenaline rushing through his body whenever Karkat got close, exchanging swipes and blows, growling and throwing in a punch or two… way better than fighting with his own selves from future and past.

This was different, since he couldn’t predict exactly what Karkat would do, and the same could be said for the troll, too. Way better than practicing alone.

The edge of his sword caught Karkat’s sickle, and Dave flicked his wrist sideways, removing the weapon from the troll’s hand, sending it clattering far enough that if he wanted to get it, Karkat would have to turn his back to Dave –something he would never do.

Karkat growled once again, then attacked, redoubling his efforts to get Dave’s only weapon away from him.

Now reduced to one sickle VS shitty sword, Dave and Karkat continued attacking each other, jumping and evading and blocking the other’s blows, and at some point during their fight, they both lost their weapons and continued fighting with fists and kicks.

Usually they continued until neither could move from the floor, panting and with their faces and arms filled with bleeding scratches, satisfied with the workout but still up for verbal onslaught, and Dave was expecting the same to happen this time, too.

Karkat’s leg swung under Dave’s feet, sending him on the floor, his back slamming painfully against the pavement, and Dave kicked out instinctively, hitting Karkat’s stomach and making him double over, knees giving away and sending the troll right on top of him.

“Ow fuck, get off–” Dave wrestled with Karkat’s shoulders, trying to push him away enough to get back on his feet, and Karkat pressed both hands on Dave’s chest, ready to dig his nails in...

His fingers brushed against something unexpected; it took only a fraction of a second for Karkat to realise he was touching what Dave had called ‘nipples’, and instantly his desire to fight lessened considerably as he was faced with the opportunity to examine those nubs closer.

He usually wasn’t fascinated by stuff belonging to Dave –living in denial of how easily he could fill quadrants with Strider was going to become Karkat’s personal, secret pastime– but this was different.

Human bodies were weird and disgusting –not intriguing at all. Nor sexy. And definitely Karkat had no intention to admit to anyone that he found Dave’s fairy hair beautiful– and this was just more proof their species were as different as they could be.

What the fuck were those nubs for, anyway?

Momentarily taking advantage of his position on top of Strider, Karkat pressed both hands down, fingers gently brushing against one round, pink nub, peeking closer in fascination.

They were darker than the rest of Dave’s skin, and as he touched them, he felt Dave’s body stiffen and shiver under his own.

“What the f–fuck?! Get off you crazy alien molester!”

Karkat found himself pushed off, landing on his ass away from Dave as the human sat up, covering his chest with one arm, managing to look puny and even somewhat bashful; Karkat grunted in both amusement and annoyance, not even noticing the slight flush on Dave’s cheeks as they were mostly covered by his round shades.

“Strider, fuck, no need to act like a grub who got his food stolen by a wingbeast,” Karkat wiped away the sweat from his forehead and glared at the human.

“Shit man, you were just getting your groping on my manly chest, what was I supposed to do?”

If Karkat had any less control over his body, he would have blushed. Fortunately, he was better than that, and pushed the instinctual reaction down. “What are they for anyway?”

“So first you touch, then you ask. Well, Mr Vantas, I knew you were a lewd troll but to attempt to soil my virginal dignity, touching my pure body with your hands…” Dave was clearly recovering from the shocking ordeal if his rant was anything to go by, but Karkat had no desire to listen to his weird metaphors any more than he wanted to listen to Rose and her psychoanalytical babbling.

“Fuck, why is everything always so hard with you humans, you bulgesniffer,” Karkat rolled his eyes, shuffling closer to Strider and grabbing his wrist, trying to pry the arm away from his chest.

Dave let out another yelp, and resisted.

“What. No. Stop Vant-ass, you’re not getting another look at my miraculous chest, get off. Right now”.

“Stop being such a prudish asshole Strider, it’s not like I’m doing anything bad. Get out that stick up your waste chute and let me look at it. Strictly for intercultural purposes, shithead,” he added hastily.

Despite the embarrassment –something he would never admit feeling as he was a Strider and Striders never got embarrassed out of shit– Dave had to roll his eyes at Karkat’s snappy words.

Intercultural purposes his ass –even if Karkat was not ogling his manly chest because he wanted some hot action (and that was not something Dave wanted either. Really), Dave knew he refused to back down simply because he was a curious piece of alien idiot.

Or maybe because it was annoying the hell out of Dave.

Probably both.

“I hope you will be taking your responsibilities now, Karkles,” his tone deadpan, Dave stared at the troll, waiting for a reaction.

“What the fuck are you spouting now Strider,”  Karkat glared at him still. Dave almost smirked.

“Well, you touched my nipples, you ripped the last shred of dignity I had left here Vantas, I hope you are ready to do the right thing man, marriage and all that shit, husband and troll forever, bells in the background and waiting for me to come back home after a long day rapping around messing with people, back massage and all that shit”.

“Strider,” Karkat gritted his teeth, anger curling up inside him like a vicious snake. “I know for a fact that your fucking species has no such shitty rule. There is nothing vulgar in what I did so shut the fuck up. If it had been so bad, you wouldn’t have unclothed your lanky body in front of me in the first place”.

Dave inwardly winced –Karkat was proving to be a bit too smart. Still, he had no intention to stop. It was far too amusing… besides, there was nothing better than irony to hide his embarrassing reactions to Karkat’s actions.

There was nothing ironic in getting the shivers when a troll touched you. Nothing at all. But at least he could pretend.

Wasn’t that how irony layers worked anyway?

“Why Kar, with your researches on human behaviour I’m surprised you didn’t know, touching someone else’s chest is considered a proposal,” Dave shifted, pressing one hand on his chest dramatically. “You have to take responsibility of your untoward actions now”.

Karkat paused, looking taken aback, and for a second, Dave thought he’d won again – _‘take that, idiot, Strider Swag 10, Weird Loud Alien 0’–_ then those yellow, freakish eyes narrowed in consideration, and a small smirk appeared on his face, making him look almost predatory-like.

Dave found himself wondering if that was how a canary felt in front of a smug cat, and banished the thought instantly.

“Strider, you seem awfully ready to commit yourself,” Karkat crooned, and the sound made Dave freeze. “And you were the one who undressed in front of me in the first place, were you offering yourself up for one of my quadrants, then?”

The fact that Karkat had just turned the tables on him left Dave with a bitter taste in his mouth, and the accusation was so abrupt he found himself speechless.

“Fuck you,” he muttered, feeling like he’d just lost a verbal conflict; for a Strider that was unconceivable, and it sent his coolness factor spiralling down. He inwardly cringed.

“Well then, fucker,” Karkat was clearly pleased with himself for having one-upped the human, and shifted even closer. “Is that a request?”

Dave shut his mouth, feeling his heart rate increase all of sudden. He swallowed thickly, and glared from behind his shades, even though he knew Karkat wouldn’t see it.

“Not at all, Vantas,” he replied, his voice barely wavering. “Fuck _off_ ”.

“Just let me get a look already, idiot,” Karkat’s smirk morphed back into his usual scowl. “I have no idea why you’re being so secretive when it’s not something bad for your stupid pink race, and as I obviously proved myself superior, unless you give me a valid reason, I will do as I fucking please”.

Dave froze.

He had no intention to tell Karkat that he didn’t want the troll this close because it made his insides shift around uncomfortably –that would be like willingly losing all his pride and dignity with a single flip– but if he remained silent, Karkat _would_ get too close.

Was there no way out.

“Just… keep your hands off me,” he grunted, slowly removing his arm from his chest, suddenly feeling far too naked for comfort. “No touching allowed. My man-meat does not belong to you. Striders gotta keep themselves pristine and untouchable. It’s not cool, so hands off the merchandize”.

Karkat glared up at him, but respected his wishes and simply stared at Dave’s chest. Dave refused to look at him, enough unsettled by Karkat’s curiosity and unrelenting bitchiness to be able to stand those eyes solely focused on him.

Or his chest.

What the fuck. If Karkat had to find something interesting in Dave why the nipples? Why not…

Forcing himself to stop there, not wanting to go down the dangerous path again, Dave cleared his throat.

“Are you quite finished with your ogling now?” he was rather satisfied to hear his voice was back to its deadpan tone.

The troll glanced up, and once again, Dave found himself with not enough air in his lungs. There was a curious emptiness in his belly, and Dave almost backed away, disliking how he suddenly felt as if he was falling without safety net.

“Humans are fucking weird,” Karkat grumbled, pushing himself up and away.

Dave resolutely ignored the part of him that felt at loss and stubbornly forced more relief into him instead.

“Good, trolls are fucking weird too,” he muttered in reply.

With that, He stood up and stomped out of the training room, trying not to look like he was fleeing.

He could still feel Karkat’s eyes on him.


	2. Where Dave realises he has a problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we get to chapter 2 ^^ things get awkward when the stalker is in the house (meteor).

**Chapter 02: Where Dave realises he has a problem**

\---

The problem with spending three years of their lives on a meteor was, at least according to Dave, the company.

There were only two humans, one of which was his sister, and then a bunch of trolls, one of which had barricaded himself somewhere in the lab and refused to come out, and another one who had as of late started to become rather annoying.

Or, really, more annoying than usual. Which was almost impossible.

Dave resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and merely turned his head around, looking at the other end of the corridor.

He could see a familiar mop of hair peeking from behind the corner; the sight was both frustrating and somewhat amusing, in a twisted way.

Karkat really failed at being inconspicuous.

“Vantas, you can come out now, your attempts at hide-and-seek are useless when nobody is actually giving a horse’s shit to find you”.

He heard Karkat utter a curse before the troll stepped out from his hiding spot, looking grumpy as hell.

“Why are you following me Kar, you want to finally learn some swag to impress the ladies?” Dave continued, smirking when his words predictably made the other teen bristle in rage.

“If there is anything I could ever learn from you, Strider, it is your infuriating ability to spout utter bullshit at any hour of the night, with barely no time to think at all, and if that was something I wanted to be proficient at, I would very much prefer to shove my foot into my mouth and down my air chute,” Karkat hissed, managing to say the whole phrase without having to breathe.

Dave had to admit to himself that he was impressed.

“But really, do share why you’re here stalking me,” the troll’s presence was somewhat irritating, as Dave wanted to be alone for a bit without someone breathing down on his neck.

Sometimes the lab, and subsequently the whole meteor, felt far too small.

Karkat’s grimace shifted into an expression Dave wasn’t familiar with –something less rancorous, and more…

Karkat’s eyes moved down his neck, and stopped on his chest.

No.

Oh, shit, _no_.

“Fuck are you still… stop staring at my chest, I swear this is one of the things no man would ever want to say in their lives, Jesus fuck, and you just had me say it, well done, now stop –I said… stay away from me”.

Dave, ready to step up his game and start a rap on all the things that were wrong with Karkat’s head, had no time to because Karkat was moving again, but instead of walking away as he had expected him to, he was instead coming his way.

“There is no way in hell I’m going to let you take another step, this is uncharted territory, get your dirty claws away and get my nipples out of your mind”.

Which was, once again, something he had never thought he would ever say, ironically or not.

“You are making this more difficult than it should be, Strider,” Karkat replied, a last effort to look civilized in front of such a stupid, inferior species.

“No, _you_ are making this more difficult than it should be, Vantas,” Dave parroted him. “Do me a favour and go cuddle your moreal or whatever, it’s clear the one out of his mind isn’t the crazy juggalo, but the grumpy loudmouth instead”.

Karkat looked positively livid and ready to start one of his long, convoluted rants –Dave never paid attention to them anyway– so instead of trying to lose him in the maze of corridors, Dave took a step to the side and allowed time to flutter around him, tugging him a few minutes in the past.

In the time it took him to blink, the corridor had emptied himself of trolls with stalker tendencies.

Dave took a deep breath and tilted his head, listening to the tell-tale noise of the footsteps of Past Dave approaching.

He hurried down the corridor, not wanting to stick around and listen to a repeat of the whole fiasco.

***

When Dave arrived to the training room, ready for some quality time spent honing his skills, he found Karkat already there, waiting for him.

As they had grudgingly decided that training together would give them both something to do other than bicker, it was obvious the troll would still show up for his daily pounding, yet Dave was surprised to see him all the same.

He’d ditched him to avoid confrontation, and he wasn’t really up to face him now, either, but… he could never reject a sparring partner.

As soon as he entered the room, Karkat’s attention zeroed on him; he straightened his back and called out his sickles from his sylladex, ready to fight.

“Come on, fucker, we don’t have the whole day to waste around your lazy ass,” the troll taunted, smirking.

Dave returned the smirk, relaxing slightly.

He had expected the troll to continue with his crazy antics, but it seemed Karkat had finally given up on his stupid obsession.

They circled each other for a few seconds, trying to sense the perfect moment to strike; as usual, Karkat was the first to move, jumping against Dave and slashing with both sickles.

Dave avoided the attack easily, taking a step forwards and elegantly twisting to the side, shitty sword ready to collide with Karkat’s chest–

The troll spun to the side, falling on his knee and rolling over, using the speed to knock into Dave.

Having expected that, Dave was able to jump out of the way, but was startled when Karkat aimed at his hand with a kick, sending his sword crashing against the opposite wall.

Things were moving faster than Dave had expected; usually it took them at least half an hour to go from using their weapons to throwing punches and kicks, so Karkat’s attempts to hasten the situation were unprecedented.

That didn’t mean the change wasn’t welcome, though; Dave gave up on retrieving his sword and spun around quickly, hitting Karkat on the side of the head, smirking when the troll dropped both sickles and tackled him to the ground.

Then, the fun stopped abruptly when instead of going for his right side –an obvious trap, as Dave had left it unguarded on purpose– Karkat’s hands  slipped up his shirt and fumbled around to grope at his chest.

Dave let out an affronted yelp. The feeling of fingers brushing against his skin, already heated up due to their fight, sent a different sort of thrill down his back, and he recoiled, smashing his elbow into Karkat’s face.

Karkat grunted in pain but didn’t retreat, and Dave kneeled him in the stomach, finally able to push him away.

“Holy shit, no, I told you once already, stay away, Vantas, fuck, can’t you get a simple no for what it is?”

Panting and wheezing, Karkat glared up at him, clearly upset than his plan had failed.

With the sinking feeling that this would not be the last time Karkat tried to ambush him, Dave turned around, captchalogued his sword again, and left the room in a hurry.

He didn’t like how it felt like he was running away from Karkat… even if that was exactly what was happening.

***

“You seem to be hanging out with the Mayor a lot more in these last few days”.

Dave looked up, glancing at his ecto-sis from above the edge of his coffee cup, and shrugged noncommittally, letting the shitty flavour of the coffee fill his mouth.

He was probably starting to get some sort of addiction to the stuff despite the horrible taste, but he really didn’t want to consider the eventuality of going without it. His sleeping time was filled by meetings with dead people that always left him feeling tired, as if he didn’t really rest at all, so in the end it was just simpler to stay awake. The coffee was the only thing around the meteor that effectively helped with that.

So bless the shitty coffee.

“You also have been avoiding your usual training spots, I have noticed,” Rose continued, unperturbed about his lack of a vocal answer. “It makes me wonder why you decided to be so lax with something that usually filled a good portion of your day”.

Dave stiffened a bit, but outwardly kept his cool. He swallowed another gulp of coffee.

“What can I say, Lalonde,” he finally replied, keeping his tone blank. “A man needs some time off, can’t work my pretty ass every day without resting, and the Mayor just needed my artistic skills for his town, no biggie”.

He could feel her eyes on him, making a hole in his head; damn her ability to read him like one of her weird books, he knew she was _not_ buying it.

Despite that, there was absolutely no way she could know why he was avoiding his training. He missed the way his body ached afterwards, how easy to sleep without dreaming was when he could barely lift an arm up. He missed the feeling of stretching himself past his boundaries, bending his frame to his will.

But he could not go back to that anymore. Karkat had ruined it for him.

Rose could waste an entire day mulling over whatever idiotic reason Dave had to stop training, but she would _never_ be able to guess what his true one was.

There was a small pause, in which both Derse siblings remained peacefully quiet.

“Karkat has been way louder than it should be healthy,” Rose abruptly stated, deadpan. “Apparently you were a good sort of stress reliever, and now that you stopped showing up for your daily strifes with him, he can’t relieve his bad mood with you, and has started unleashing his usual verbal attacks on the rest of us instead”.

Dave almost choked on his coffee, the sudden mention of Karkat making it painfully obvious that Rose was onto him.

Oh _shit_ sheknewshe _knew_ abortmission–

“If with your antics you’ve been trying to accomplish something, I hope you will desist and return to your usual schedules,” her tone was calm and pleasant, but Dave had grown apt in reading the subtle changes in her voice.

It was almost too easy to recognise when Rose was slipping into her role as his sister.

Nobody could ever hope to match Rose’s passive aggressive skills, which were strictly reserved to family members and in a minor dose, to close friends. Unfortunately, Dave had been part of the second category for years, and lately, had been promoted to the first.

Curse John Egbert and his ectobiology.

“Lay off, Lalonde, I can’t act like your convenient little pawn to cool down Vantas’ bad moods. Have you ever thought his presence might be grating to _my_ nerves too?” taking another sip of coffee, Dave tried not to look like he was subtly shifting away from her. He was. “He’s not exactly the friendliest troll around, just stating the obvious here”.

Rose opened her mouth again, and Dave recognised that look in her eyes as one meaning he really didn’t want to be around for whatever she was going to dish out to him; before he could abscond though, the sound of the transportalizer being activated attracted both their attentions, and he instantly relaxed, thanking whatever god was around for the intrusion.

Until he turned around and realised that Karkat himself had just appeared in the lab room.

_‘Well, shit’._

He could feel Rose’s eyes on him, calculating, so he refused to abscond and instead remained rooted where he was, sipping his coffee, knowing without even having to look that Rose was probably smirking at him.

Karkat’s eyes moved to them, sensing a presence in the room, and when he saw Rose standing there he frowned slightly; he then noticed Dave was there, too.

Just as he had feared, the troll’s eyes fell quickly from his face to his chest.

Karkat had been ogling his covered nipples so much that even a glimpse of the troll made Dave feel like all his cool was swirling down the drain.

The guy could definitely hold an obsession.

That was why he had avoided him for the entire week.

The sour part was that the troll didn’t seem inclined to share this unwanted attention with Rose, the only other human on the meteor –a fact that made Dave both glad and somewhat resentful; after all, he didn’t want Karkat’s eyes to focus on his ecto-sibling’s bosom.

As her brother, it was his duty to feel offended on her behalf. It had nothing to do with the fact that having Karkat’s attention focus  solely on him was somewhat satisfying.

Of course as Karkat didn’t spare a single second to look at Rose’s cleavage those thoughts were silly and uncool and unneeded. But the principle was the same.

Refusing to give any indication that the loud idiot was why he had aborted training for the past week, Dave returned his full attention to the coffee, ignoring both Rose and Karkat, hoping that if he feigned disinterest, they would both leave him alone.

He focused so much on the coffee, ignoring Karkat’s eyes on his body and Rose observing them both with interest flashing on her face, that he did not even hear Karkat get close.

In fact, the only thing that snapped Dave out of his magnetic concentration on how the coffee seemed to be corroding the side of his cup was a hand appearing at the edge of his vision, grey skin directed towards–

He slapped the hand away, taking a step back and instinctively lifting his arm to his chest in a defensive position, glaring at Karkat, who had the impudence to look affronted.

“What do you think you’re doing,” Dave, still painfully aware that Rose was _there,_ hoped that Karkat would keep quiet and just storm off.

Fat chance.

“I–”

“Never mind that, hands off dude, told you already, there’s this little thing called privacy bubble, it would do you good to respect my boundaries unless you’re desperate for some Strider attention. I wouldn’t put that behind you, I mean anyone and their moms would die for me to even look at them, but you gotta play nice and be a nice fan if you want the backstage pass,” Dave trudged on, aware that Rose would turn his words around in ways that would shame even Freud, but unable to stop.

Better hold the rant on his own rather than give Karkat enough time to say something compromising that would be taken entirely out of context.

Karkat stared at him like he’d grown another head, eyes narrowed down in anger, and Dave had to swallow back a shiver.

It was not fair that the stupid, loud troll could make his carefully placed coolkid appearance falter just by being his irritating, despondent self. He knew Karkat didn’t even _mean_ it.

For him it was perfectly ok to invade Dave’s space, butt in and try to touch his chest. He probably thought it was funny, and wouldn’t believe anything Dave said.

It had nothing to do with anything sexual on his side, and unless Dave explained that it wasn’t exactly recommended to go around and grope people, no matter how interesting you thought they were, Karkat would not back down, but the thought of having to open his mouth and tell the troll exactly why what he was doing was a big no-no was mortifying.

And he couldn’t even have Rose explain unless he wanted to kiss his cool goodbye. Have his sis protect him wasn’t exactly knightly-like.

Fucking trolls.

Karkat glared at him, eyes shifting quickly between his hand and Dave, then–

Dave had to slap his hand away as it reached forwards once again. “Hey,” he called out, refusing to admit that the troll was doing a good job at pissing him off. “What did I just say?”

“May I ask what exactly is it that you’re trying to do, Karkat?”

Keeping Karkat in his peripheral vision, Dave glanced over at Rose without turning his head. The Seer seemed perplexed, but by the small revealing twitch of her lips, mostly amused.

He hoped Karkat had enough decency to just keep his mouth sealed and not…

“Touch that fucking idiot,” Karkat replied, looking as though he felt completely justified.

Dave fought the urge to facepalm, and won. Barely.

Rose’s lips curled upwards. “I see,” and Dave almost cringed at all the undertones in that single sentence. “Unfortunately, Dave does not seem all that eager for you to continue down that road,” she continued, sounding partially regretful.

Dave wished he could abscond and drown, but he was frozen in place.

“That is because he’s a fucking idiot,” Karkat grunted, finally retreating his arm at what Dave considered a safe distance. “It’s not going to hurt him,” he added after a moment, eye narrowing even more, almost in appraisal.

“… Indeed,” Rose hummed softly, now staring at her sibling with a raised eyebrow.

Dave felt cornered. On one side, he knew exactly what Rose was expecting from him –a rant, an explanation for what Karkat was doing, so that she could pick it apart and seize the opportunity to make some more penis comments on how Dave’s dreams were the embodiment of Freud’s theory or whatever– but he couldn’t give it to her.

He couldn’t just say ‘hey, Karkles here is just a weird troll who wants to touch my manly nipples, ain’t going to let him do that though’.

It would simply fuel her on.

But if he remained silent that would goad her on nonetheless.

Shit. Shit.

“This is not what it looks like,” he deadpanned, cringing at how stupid that line felt once out of his mouth.

He felt even more ridiculous when he had to bat away Karkat’s wandering hand right after.

Rose simply smirked knowingly at him, then stood up. “Well, please do not let me interrupt, I will leave you to your devices,” she glanced at Karkat, then back at Dave. “Unless you are planning to have a talk with me, that is”.

Dave slammed the cup down on the table and took a step back.

“Actually, I think Terezi and the Mayor might be waiting for me,” he coolly turned around and walked towards the transportalizer. “Ollie out and gone”.

He absconded the fuck out of the room.

 


	3. Where Rose has fun and Dave grumbles about stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had fun writing this particular chapter, and I still don't know how long till the fic ends. :P Thanks everybody for following and commenting (and for the helpful mentions of mistakes <3)

**Chapter 03: Where Rose has fun and Dave grumbles about stuff**

\---

 Karkat watched Dave abscond with a scowl.

Despite his better judgement, he found himself idly wishing the stupid GodTier outfit of the human didn’t include a cape. It covered up Dave’s back while he walked away, and Karkat didn’t like his view obstructed by stupid floating cloths.

When he realised exactly what he had been thinking, and where these thoughts were leading him, Karkat steered his mind away from Dave’s ass and tried to concentrate on matters of actual importance –such as getting the fucking human to give in, and allow Karkat to touch him to his heart’s content.

Was it so bad he wanted to learn from hands-on experience how the human’s body differed from his own? Was it so bad he craved to touch and prod that weird rosy skin to see if it was really as soft as it looked? Was it a crime to be invested in how trolls were vastly superior to stupid pink monkeys?

 “So,” Rose’s voice stopped Karkat’s inner rants and he turned to look at her, angered at having his thoughts interrupted so rudely. “Would you mind offering a valid explanation for what you are doing to my brother?”

Karkat let out a huff, his attention still focused on matters regarding Dave. “Trying to get him out of his fucking clothes,” he grumbled, eyes narrowed in speculation as he pondered over a strategy to achieve that.

There had to be a way to get Dave where he wanted him to be.

Rose’s eyebrows shot up so quickly Karkat almost snorted at her obvious surprise.

“What?”

“I wasn’t exactly expecting that,” she admitted, regarding him curiously. “I was under the impression you were denying having any sort of attraction for him, be it of caliginous quality or flushed, so to hear you admit your intentions so bluntly was indeed somewhat of a shock”.

 “What. No. No, fuck, no, I have no attraction for that shithead,” he denied instantly, fidgeting nervously.

“Funny you should say that after having heavily implied your wish to get Dave out of his clothes, not to mention the fact that you repeatedly try to touch him, ignoring his requests for you to stop,” Rose stated coolly.

Karkat’s brain finally caught up with his actions and realised that from an external viewpoint, what he had been doing was indeed prone to misinterpretations. He fought a strong, sudden urge to abscond and instead tried to look like he was not feeling cornered.

Because he wasn’t. Why would he feel cornered, when he truly had no concupiscent desire to touch Strider and map every inch of his chest?

 “No. I am… it’s just that…” he growled, backing away from her. “Your human anatomy is fucking weird, and I’m just curious about the way your horrid inferior species work, nothing more. He is just being the usual shitstain and refusing to do something trivial like allowing me to touch his weird nubs”.

Rose didn’t say anything, but her eyebrow rose some more, prompting him to go on.

Karkat found himself fidgeting under her stare.

She looked like a Lusus ready to protect her grub, and given how weird humans worked with relationships –brother and sister, that was how they called each other– it was entirely possible that Karkat had somehow triggered Rose’s protective instinct.

That was bad.

“The things on his chest,” he elaborated, defensively pointing at Rose. “Those useless things called nipples”.

Rose nodded slowly, although she didn’t look like she understood entirely.

“So I get your species do not have… nipples? How interesting”.

Karkat shook his head. “No, fuck. _You_ are the weird ones,” he replied, crossing his arms on his chest and glaring at Rose. “What the fuck are those for?”

Her lips curving into a smile, Rose picked up her discarded coffee, now cold, and sipped it. She took her sweet time, thinking of the best way to impart that particular information to the troll as she stared at him from the rim of the cup, watching him fidget.

It was definitely amusing. “Humans are mammals,” she finally said, her tone business-like and faintly smug. “Nipples serve females to feed their young”.

Karkat’s face turned into an ugly scowl. “Ugh, your species is truly disgusting as shit,” he shivered slightly, the image of the red-blooded beasts living on his planet returning to his mind. “Wait, do human males nipple-feed too, then?”

Rose’s lips twitched. “It’s called breastfeeding,” she corrected him. “And no, males do not partake in the nursing of the young”.

“Then why do they have nipples too?” Karkat’s expression, while still wrinkled up in slight revulsion, was now more intrigued than disgusted.

Rose’s forehead wrinkled. “That is not something I ever saw fit to learn,” she admitted, looking slightly sour. “The fact you are fixed on Dave remains, though,” she paused for a second, deciding how to delicately breach the subject, then fixed Karkat with a penetrant stare. “Any particular reason why you chose Dave as your test subject?”

Slightly taken aback, Karkat found he had no ready answer that wasn’t entirely filled with pure crap. Past him was an idiot, because he really didn’t give it that much of a thought, but the idea of asking Rose sounded entirely unappealing to him.

He had a feeling that asking a human female to undress would be uncouth, which he didn’t understand because as a matter of comparison, asking a troll of any sex to show their grubscars wasn’t an insult or anything, and those were vestigial remains of a similar purpose.

He frankly didn’t care. He had no interest to look at Rose’s chest, naked or otherwise. Besides, it was a matter of pride, and he wanted to get Dave out of his clothes so he could finally feed his curiosity and be done with it.

Karkat ignored the light squeeze in his bloodpusher at that thought and shrugged, focusing on his anger instead.

If he kept being pissed off, he wouldn’t feel anything that would be too quadrant-y to mention.

“While I am _not_ offering up myself, it seems clear that you wouldn’t even consider going down that path. Regardless of the matter that, in a purely theoretical conversation, I would be far more useful to gain any information you desire on the subject. No, you instead continue to strive for _Dave_ to comply with your demands,” she continued. “Shouldn’t you try and focus on why you’re so set on my brother?”

Karkat grunted at her. “I have nothing to say on the damn subject. The fucker just makes me furious. There is nothing wrong with him stepping down his fucking giant pedestal for a moment and give in,” he paused, trying to come up to terms with what he wanted to say and find another way to say it, but a soft hum from Rose kept him silent.

For a second, neither spoke, Karkat staring at her with a frown and Rose looking like she was contemplating something not entirely pleasant.

“It should be worth mentioning,” she finally stated, choosing her words carefully, “that human nipples are, well, sensitive to touch,” there was a light colouring on her cheeks that alerted Karkat that they were breaching a subject he was entirely uncomfortable discussing with someone, let alone the Seer of Light.

Still, he found himself pressing on against his better judgement. All from of purely theoretical interest, of course. “What the fuck do you mean with that”.

Rose rolled her eyes, sighing, fingers tightening their hold on the cup. “The degree of sensitiveness varies from person to person, Karkat, and while some do not find it pleasant to have their nipples touched, for others it is actually a pleasing experience”.

For a single instant, Karkat’s brain recalled the sensation of Dave underneath him, pressed against the floor as he brushed his fingers against his nipples, the shiver that ran through his body before the human pushed him away–

The thought sent a wave of heat crashing down his body, coiling inside his lower belly, threatening to destroy all his carefully built lies of purely platonic feelings for Strider.

He abruptly turned around and hurried out of the lab room, leaving Rose standing there, lips pursed slightly as she decided to leave the cold, unfinished coffee on the table and go in search of Kanaya.

***

Karkat’s first instinct was to rush to his moirail for reassurance.

It was weird to be able to trust someone so completely, talking and sharing things Karkat had spent sweeps burying deep inside himself, but that was what being in a moirallegiance meant, and he wasn’t going to look at a gifted hoofbeast in the gaping fanged maw.

He had never felt the need to have a palemate before, and he had only made his move on Gamzee in order to calm him down, but now that he had tasted what it meant to have a moirail, to have _Gamzee_ as a moirail, Karkat could honestly say he wouldn’t renounce to it for anything.

He guessed all the pale pity he felt for Gamzee was proof enough that their moirallegiance was working.

If there was someone that could help him sort through all these horrid feelings it was definitely Gamzee, and Karkat needed nothing more than rant out knowing the other troll would be there for him.

Because he refused to admit he felt something for Strider other than a passing lust, but even with that, he had no idea what quadrant his idiot libido was aiming for.

It couldn’t be red. He was red for Terezi, the reddest ever. So that only left–

Karkat stilled in the middle of the corridor, two steps away from the transportalizer that would send him to the depths of the meteor, where Gamzee’s room was.

All at once, memories of feelings jams with Gamzee resurfaced to his mind –he recalled rough, disgruntled comments, rants and growls, and he froze mid-step.

Karkat wasn’t entirely sure whether Gamzee’s confused words were real or just hallucinations, but he had no intention to find out. Not now.

Gamzee’s rants now that he was sober consisted in things Karkat had no knowledge of –hastily made confessions about puppets and harlequins and chucklevoodoos, of drifting through dreams to carve in the subconscious of ‘those motherfuckers’ what ‘fear was’.

Strider’s name repeated over and over like a mantra, Gamzee’s eyes turning dark and dangerous whenever Karkat mentioned his squabbles with the human or his anger at him for making a move on Terezi.

It dawned on him all at once, and Karkat cursed loudly at himself for not having noticed it sooner.

Gamzee had a black crush on Strider, and if Karkat went to him, to share his troubles, without even knowing what quadrant his not-feelings for the fucker were…

If they were black…

Then they’d have a problem.

Mechanically, Karkat turned around and changed direction, walking through the corridor towards his own respiteblock.

The fact that he couldn’t confide in his own moirail for this subject brought a pang of guilt in his bloodpusher, but he ignored it. He trusted Gamzee, and knew he wouldn’t really do anything, but it wouldn’t do to worry him with something that was (probably) entirely wrong.

He just had to take some time and see what he felt for the fucker, and once that was sorted out, he would be able to confront his moirail.

Besides, black or red, he had no intention to let his (non-existent) feelings push him to do things he’d regret with Strider.

For now, he would simply try to fulfil his curiosity. That had nothing to do with whatever stupid lust he harboured for the idiot.

***

In retrospect, Dave realised that leaving Rose and Karkat alone in the same room, _together_ , had _not_ been his best decision ever.

He had good reason to panic though, especially with his sister’s determination to analyse his brain and what things meant when they didn’t mean anything.

Not to mention Karkat’s penchant for embarrassing them both with his stupidity.

Still, as Rose didn’t try to corner him again, maybe he had managed to dodge the proverbial bullet.

Dave Strider had survived another day.

After his pathetic encounter with Rose and Karkat, things continued pretty much the same as before; Dave still attempted to avoid the idiot troll, spending an inordinate amount of time building and drawing with the Mayor in New Can Town. The carapace seemed to appreciate that, and Terezi popped around just as much. Dave really enjoyed his time with them.

There was a severe shortage of red and green chalk, but they made it work nonetheless.

They exchanged banter, stupid silly quotes from his webcomic, and he started drawing new issues of SBaHJ on the floor and the walls, re-enacting scenes for the Mayor’s entertainment, as the guy had never had the chance to read it before.

It was pleasant and silly and exactly what Dave needed.

If he focused on mundane, silly things like rapping and making sarcastic comics, he would eventually be able to ignore the way Karkat’s eyes followed him every time they happened to be in the same room, or the way his stomach fluttered when the troll was around.

Unfortunately, Dave’s brain was his worst enemy –chasing the loudmouth out of his thoughts was _not_ easy.

To make the situation even worse, Karkat had apparently decided that instead of giving up and allowing Dave to keep his pride intact, he had enough time to waste to follow – _stalk_ – him everywhere, trying to catch him off-guard long enough to get his mad grab on.

During meals, Karkat would inconspicuously reach out, apparently with the excuse to get himself some bread or water (or whatever would be closest to Dave), and then his hand would abruptly change its course, going for his chest in a pathetic attempt to hit Base Two.

Dave, obviously superior and with faster reflexes, easily slapped the hand away, but the attention he got from the remaining meteorstucks was enough to make him feel like a lab rat –especially with the penetrant stares he got from his sister.

She looked like she wanted nothing more than grab him and dissect his brain bit by bit. Sweet, dear Sister.

He wasn’t sure who put him on edge the most –Karkat or Rose.

He also found Karkat ambushing him behind dark corners sometimes, arms stretched and eyes set on his prey –Dave’s chest– and he’d have to side-step quickly in order not to get an armful of determined troll.

It was getting overly ridiculous.

His resolve to ignore training crumbled within the next three days, after he realised he felt guilty for wasting his time without following his usual regime, so he had given up and resumed his schedule, even though he still refused to spar with Karkat.

He solved things by twisting time to his will again, and future Daves became his main opponents once more.

That would have been fine –not as good as having an actual partner, but passably ok– if Karkat didn’t still pop around to _stare_ at him as he fought.

The way Karkat’s eyes concentrated on how he moved, eyes flickering from one Dave to the other, made him feel naked and exposed.

That intense gaze burned through his body, so much Dave had a hard time training, dreading the moment he’d have to take his turn and roll back in time.

The troll had no rights to look at him like that, bringing up unwanted thoughts on which Dave didn’t want to linger on.

He enjoyed his verbal spars with him, but not as much as he enjoyed their fights. The way Karkat responded to his blows and tried to get the upper hand; he enjoyed riling him up and seeing him lose control, ranting his way to next Saturday, eyes blazing in anger. He enjoyed when they had a rare moment of quiet, when they ended up sprawled out on the floor after training, satisfaction curling inside their battered bodies, and just waited in silence, for once not exchanging cutting words or insults.

He enjoyed finding him at night wandering about the meteor, when both of them were unable to sleep, and they’d either ignore each other, simply offering a passing glance as they bumped shoulders. He even enjoyed times when they’d sit together in the lab room waiting for the others to wake up, only to awkwardly swear never to mention their ‘bonding time _’_ to anyone.

Before Karkat’s shitty obsession with his nipples started, Dave had grudgingly thought that he could be ok with being friends with the troll. They had spent an entire year together, he was _bound_ to grow accustomed to the shitty loudmouth.

But now… now things were slightly different and he had no idea what to do about it.

He had never considered going anywhere with Karkat. He never even knew he had a thing for stupid bossy aliens with weird moods and rad fighting skills, although his friendship with Terezi should have been telling enough.

Dave Strider had never thought he’d want to _think_ about having a romantic interest, let alone an alien one.

He was supposed to be as cool as Antarctica, chill like a boss, firing sick rhymes and being overall above petty things like crushes… but apparently he’d failed somewhere down the road. And now all he’d left were feelings everywhere.

It was obvious Karkat was too dense to realise what was going on. He had no idea he was harassing him, making it hard for him to want to be around the troll.

Not to mention Karkat’s obvious dislike for him wasn’t even worth a quadrant, which was the worst part of the entire situation. It was humiliating, as Dave was the one with stupid feelings all over the place without any idea on how to adjust to them.

Karkat was infuriating, and Dave honestly didn’t know what to do. Confronting him was not an option, because as much as Dave rocked everybody’s world with raps and rad rhymes, talking about feelings was not something he had much experience with.

Or any, at all.

The most he’d managed had been some casual, empty flirting with the person who had turned out to be his sister, and even that had gone nowhere, because neither were really interested.

There was no time, pun not intended, to focus on romance. Even if they still had a long way before they’d reach the next universe. It was stupid and unneeded.

Especially not with Karkat.

He just wondered who would give up first –himself or Karkat.


	4. Where Dave Just can't help it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The line is about to be crossed, and it might be fun. I hope I am still managing to make this story palatable to you readers, because as a writer, I am having lots of fun, but I wonder if there are things I need to make better. The subject started off as crack, but has developed into a more serious situation (I guess you could expect that from me).

**Chapter 04: Where Dave just can't help it  
**

**\---**

Refusing to think about Karkat, while an overall good idea (as Dave was a busy god and didn’t have time to spare about loud annoying aliens), ended up being a decision doomed to failure.

Despite all the excuses Dave kept listing off in his mind, they _were_ on a meteor, and there was only so much to do without getting bored. Besides, as his body was happy enough to notify him, he was a healthy teenager in a constricted space with other healthy teenagers, and as such, not thinking about Karkat actually meant thinking about him most of the time.

They couldn’t get the meteor to move faster.

They couldn’t really do much other than plan what they could do once in the new session.

So, aside for the daily meet up in the lab room to listen to Rose prattling on about their trip and what she caught through her seer powers, or play around in Can Town, Dave had nothing to do.

In all honesty, Dave had all the time to think about Karkat.

And he _did_ think of him.

Romance shit was confusing and bothersome and it filled up all his time.

“Dave, if you would please try to tune in with the rest of us, I was about to explain something important,” Rose’s voice penetrated through his thoughts, attracting his attention, and he tilted his head to signal her he was listening.

“We are about to reach the physical place where Dream Bubbles are situated,” Rose continued, her tone soft and even. “It seems they exist in the space outside every universe, and not unlike this meteor, are going to be real and we might have to pass through them to continue towards our destination”.

Dave expected Karkat to start a rant, especially considering how disturbing the thought of physically moving through dreams containing their dead friends –and a lot of Dead Daves and alternate versions of all of them, too– but when nothing of that sort happened, he turned his head slightly to stare at the troll.

Once again, he found Karkat staring at him instead, eyes narrow and sharp.

The fact that he was not looking at his chest was somewhat of an improvement, but it made Dave’s insides twist unpleasantly with some sort of vague feeling that tasted like hope, bitter and tangy.

He resolutely stomped on the thought, trying to act like he hadn’t noticed the stare.

It was time to man up and completely ignore the troll and his own feelings on the subject.

Act the way he thought a Strider should act. Cool. Detached. Ignoring the problem until it either went away or started bashing him on his head. Either way.

Rose was still talking, explaining what she thought was the true nature of the Bubbles and how they were tied with the Game, and how intriguing the idea of them being physical when the only thing that they contained was the mind, or soul, of the dead, and Dave found his attention drifting away, thoughts straying somewhere else instead.

His subconscious caught a movement at his left and he quickly glanced there, noticing with annoyance that Karkat had shifted a few inches closer, looking by all means completely focused on him.

Ignoring the way his stomach clenched, Dave refused to move, and trained his attention back on Rose again.

“… there might be more than our dead selves in there, which makes me wonder if we will be able to meet versions of ourselves that were doomed in particular circumstances where–”

Nope, still talking about uninteresting stuff.

Karkat shifted even closer, and Dave didn’t have to look to know that the guy had his eyes fixed on his chest again. For a moment he wondered if he could use irony as a cover and just dish some sort of rant on Karkat’s head to see if he finally got it, but then realised it would only bring more attention on what the troll was doing.

That would be enough to embarrass even someone as cool as he was.

He really had no idea what to do.

Dave shifted to the side without making noise, hoping that moving away would dissuade Karkat from what he was trying to do, but luck was not on his side, because the troll, looking slightly peeved but otherwise still determined, shifted even closer, invading Dave’s coveted private space and forcing him to move again.

Karkat followed again, this time reaching towards Dave’s chest.

Dave batted his hand away, receiving a growl for his efforts.

 _‘This is ridiculous,’_ Dave shifted away again, annoyance growing when Karkat followed again, inching even closer than before, hand stretched again, grabbing his wrist and pushing his arm to the side.

He grunted and tried to pry his arm free, but Karkat didn’t let go, his other hand sneaking forwards; Dave grabbed the troll’s wrist, holding it away.

Karkat hissed in anger, the growl returning as a soft warning.

“Hands off, man,” Dave finally broke his self-imposed silence, pushing his weight forwards.

Karkat didn’t relent, trying to shove him back as well.

Acutely aware that the background noise of Rose’s voice was now suspiciously absent, Dave tried to look away from Karkat, but when he tilted his head to the side, Karkat saw that as an opening and pushed harder, and Dave had to concentrate on him again.

“Vantas, seriously, you’re ridiculous,” he started, muscles tensing up with the strain to keep the resilient troll away. “I thought your intelligence to be at least up to that of a dog, you know, following commands and shit, but it looks like you can’t even listen when someone tells you _off_ ,” he huffed as Karkat pushed him again, hand aimed at his chest. “Gotta end up having to swat you on the nose with a newspaper, walk-to-the-park privileges revoked, chained and collared in the backyard,” Karkat stared up at him with a frown, but Dave had finally started his longwinded rant and had no intentions to hold back. “This shit right here is not ok. Not. Ok. It is no less disturbing than finding the damned Juggalo troll hanging from my ceiling two weeks ago watching me sleep, man, a creeper underworld clown kicked out from a Stephen King convention because he was trying to re-enact the movie It”.

At the mention of his moirail, Karkat’s annoyance grew, but Dave was not yet finished.

One thing was to be able to keep the assaults and the creepy stalking to a minimum, where nobody else was included, another was to have Karkat try to touch him in public.

If the public didn’t include Rose, Dave would have stated something about Karkat trying to rob him of his maiden virginity and how they should keep it private instead, but unfortunately his sister had a penchant for picking up hints. Even when there shouldn’t be any. It was a _curse_.

As it was, Dave was definitely pissed off.

“I was going to be chill, as fucking chill as a goddamn ice cube in a tropical cocktail, but this has gone a bit too far in my book, red pen circling your mistake, your ending score is a 20, the end,” still pushing on Karkat’s hands, Dave moved around, forcing the troll to back away with his full weight, pushing him slowly towards the transportalizer.

“ _Strider_ –” Karkat’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You make no fucking sense whatsoever, I hope you realise that your stupid metaphors are falling short in front of your idiocy”.

“Man, you don’t even know what you’re saying, the only idiot I see is you, as you still keep on pushing aside any sort of decency and keep getting up in my personal bubble, when I told you more than once to _keep_ your _hands_ to _yourself_ ,” there was a soft gasp coming from Rose’s general direction, although it wasn’t the voice of his sister. He guessed Kanaya was once again wondering if she’d have to mediate or not.

He hoped she would refrain from doing so –her interruption would make whatever they were dancing around feel a bit too real.

“You’re making a fool out of yourself here,” Karkat replied, resisting as Dave continued pushing him and starting to push back.

Dave gritted his teeth.

“This is what nightmares are made of, being probed and analysed by a fucking alien too interested in human biology to think about what he’s actually doing, not exactly a kink of mine,” Dave continued, a small strain to his voice. “Thousands of Americans are cowering in their rooms at night, afraid a big bad alien will come and prod them while they sleep… not that staring at you would ever make someone cower in fear, more like snort in derision, but that’s beside the point…”

Karkat’s reaction to the insult was to shove Dave harder, actually gaining a few inches before the human managed to stop him.

They were having an impasse. He did not like that.

He did not like the idea that Karkat was as strong as he was.

“What is it that is happening, if I may inquire?” Kanaya tilted her head towards Rose, knowing that if someone knew what was going on, that would be her.

Rose pursed her lips and turned fully to her. “It seems that Karkat has developed some sort of curiosity towards an exclusively human feature, and will not retreat until Dave concedes defeat and allows him to… explore”.

The way she worded that explanation made Dave shiver at the implications.

“Shit’s a no access zone, personnel-only authorization required, shoot at trespassers,” he interjected, eyes narrowed behind his shades.

“Should I intervene to try and pacify the discussion?” Kanaya asked, eyes gaining a new glint.

“No!” both Karkat and Dave turned as one towards her, one with a panicked expression, the other a growl.

“Oh, uhm, that is perfectly acceptable, I just thought you might desire this bickering not to reach a full-out fight,” Kanaya’s cheeks were slightly tinged green as she glanced aside, trying to hide her crestfallen look.

Rose instantly lifted one hand up to pat her shoulder, then hesitated and lowered it again, deciding not to get dragged in… for the moment.

Both Karkat and Dave returned their attention on each other, resuming exactly where they had left off.

“You’re just pushing all the wrong buttons here Karkles, stop for a moment and fucking try to make that wasted brain of yours work again. Just one second, then it can go back to being an empty space where you store your extensive vocabulary of abstruse words and insults, ok,” Dave shoved Karkat back, and the troll pushed him right back. “What would you do if _I_ were to start fondling _your_ horns?”

“They’re so small there isn’t much to fondle at all,” Terezi piped in, smiling brightly, tongue pushed past black lips to better taste the tangy smell of two candyreds fighting.

She had been staring at them, curiosity painted all over her face, sightless eyes pointed their general direction as she sniffed the air with long, deep breaths.

 “Yeah what Rezi said,” Dave nodded, watching Karkat flinch. “Wouldn’t that annoy you?”

“It’s just _horns_!” the troll denied, even though he didn’t look like he wanted Dave to make an actual hands-on demonstration.

Dave slammed his shoulder into the troll’s thorax, momentarily unbalancing him, then he lurched forwards trying to grab one of the elusive nubby horns on top of Karkat’s head, who grunted, fangs snapping inches away from the human’s fingers.

“Hey, watch those sharpies,” Dave retreated a bit, lips twisting a bit as he inspected his hand in search of potential damage.

“Then keep your filthy hands away from my head, nooksucker!”

“Keep _your_ hands away from _my_ chest then,” Dave grunted in reply, hand once again reaching out, but had to stop when Karkat bared his teeth again. “Wow fuck you’re really a rabid dog. You tried to _bite_ me man, that’s all kinds of wrong”.

Karkat opened his mouth to speak again, taking a deep breath, but Dave stopped him by lifting one hand.

“No, just… no,” he grunted out, aware of the eyes on them, staring down at them waiting for what would transpire afterwards. “I’m not even going to waste my breath on you Vantas, no sick rap can make this situation seem any less weird than it is, just keep your hands off and your mouth shut and we’re _smooth_ ”.

He shoved the troll away with a grunt, and before Karkat could retaliate by assaulting him again, he spread his fingers, reaching out with his mind to the dormant power he had control on, and time screeched into a sudden halt in the room.

The room was swallowed by a deep, unnatural silence, everything still and unmoving, and Dave paused, ears still ringing with Karkat’s yells.

He breathed out, angry at himself for how shaky he felt, and pushed away from the other Knight.

It was weird to stare at Karkat, frozen mid-movement, but the more he looked at him, the more enraged he got; he itched to do something –anything– to the troll, as a means to vent his annoyance. He wanted to mess with Karkat in a way that could give him some sort of satisfaction. Glancing around, not knowing how to solve his sudden craving, Dave’s eyes caught sight of something carelessly tossed on a nearby table and his lips twitched up in a pleased smirk.

A marker.

Yes. Perfect.

He took off the cap and used Karkat’s face as an impromptu canvas, drawing a dick around his right eye and a booty under his left. His smile faded when he realised the act didn’t make him feel any better.

Karkat’s face was frozen in a twisted grimace, his face now soiled with human dicks, but the fact that unresolved shit was still lingering between them, making things awkward, forcing him to be unable to relax, left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

He couldn’t run away. He needed to set things straight with the idiotic troll before things started rolling the wrong way.

Even if he had no idea what to say.

With a sigh, he recapped the marker and lifted one hand. He felt around for Karkat’s time, and unclenched his mental hold on it, careful to keep it still for the rest of the room.

Karkat exploded in a flurry of movement and sound, his momentum picking up again as he growled and pushed forwards, only to falter when he realised Dave was closer than he’d been the previous instant, and–

With furrowed brows, Karkat stopped. “What the fuck did you do,” he growled out, suspicious.

He glanced around, eyes widening slightly when he realised the others were still stuck in a parody of stillness, frozen in time, and returned his glare at the human.

“You cheated,” he accused, growing angry at the fact that to one up him, Dave had to resort to his fucking GodTier powers.

“You were all up in my grill Vantas, I needed breathing space,” Dave shrugged, but his tone was tense, and he looked like he was going to bolt any second now.

Karkat hunched his shoulders, staring at him, then at the frozen statues around them, then at himself. It finally dawned on him that he had been frozen together with the others, but the fucking Knight of Time had let him go.

“Why did you unstop _me_?” he asked, curious but still suspicious. “Didn’t you want to run away like a huge coward?”

Dave rolled his eyes behind the shades. “I thought we could get this flowing between the two of us and stop acting like kids,” he replied, sounding far calmer than he felt. “I don’t know about you, Vantas, but I don’t want to air my dirty laundry in front of everybody here. We’re not one of those telenovelas you enjoy watching when you think nobody’s looking”.

Karkat twitched, clearly wanting to insult Dave back, but with a huge show of self-control he managed to keep his biting words at bay. “Show the way then, you ginormous asshole”.

Dave turned around with a snort, stepping onto the transportalizer.

With a spare glance at the rest of the crew, still frozen in time, Karkat followed him.

 


	5. Where Karkat gets some mad groping going

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter to make up for last chapter that was shorter :) i hope you'll be satisfied!
> 
> Warning: Karkat gropes Dave a bit too much and it ventures a bit into dubcon, but he doesn't go too far. Either way, Warning for DUBCON still applies, so proceed at your own discretion. ^^

 

**Chapter 05: Where Karkat gets some mad groping going**

**\---**

Dave led Karkat away from the main lab, briskly walking down the corridor and hopping onto another transportalizer without really caring to check where it would take him.

He was aware the troll was following him, strangely silent, but didn’t dare looking back at him, as he was still trying to come up with something to say; he knew this was it –he’d have to be clear about Karkat and how unwanted his stupid actions were.

And that was the hard part.

With a repressed groan, Dave finally turned around, facing the other Knight.

He opened his lips to talk, but stopped, suddenly aware that he was in a dimly lit corridor, alone with the troll who had been in his thoughts for the past _month_ , and actually had no idea what to say.

Everything sort of summarized into a strict ‘stop trying to touch my manly nipples, for Christ’s sake’, but he’d tried that already without appreciable results.

“I have no idea,” he started, but had to stop and clear his throat, because he hadn’t expected his voice to come out as a croak. He felt like burying himself in shame over his lack of control. “I have _no idea_ what you’re trying to accomplish with all this bullshit, but you’re starting to severely annoy me, Vantas”.

Karkat opened his mouth to reply, but Dave held up his hand. “No. Stop right there. You have no right to speak. I revoke your ability to babble until I’m done. Shut up or I’ll sic Terezi on you”.

The troll growled, the sound vibrating right through Dave’s chest, making him shiver. Fuck, this wasn’t the right time to start noticing how hot the idiot was when he looked so angry.

He cursed at his feelings being all over the place, and wondered if that kind of fury was what trolls liked about kismetfishiness –because he could seriously come to appreciate wanting to smash Karkat’s face with a fist and then kiss it better.

Instead of allowing this train of thoughts to continue, Dave concentrated on the dick he had sketched on Karkat’s face earlier. The flicker of amusement soothed his nerves enough to continue.

 “I know you have this weird fetish with my nipples but man, Karkat, you’ve overstepped your boundaries so much it ain’t even funny anymore. Not that it ever was. Fuck. I know you have no respect for my godly person deep into that head of yours, but goddamn it Karkat, lay off me, ok?”

Karkat opened his mouth again, almost twitching in anger, but again Dave interrupted him with a raised hand, feeling irritated and trying to suppress it.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. “I admit, and I’m being honest here, mind you, that it’s amusing to watch you bristle and act like a fish out of water every time I drag you screaming and kicking out of your comfort zone, but I thought…” he groaned a bit. He _didn’t_ want to say it, but he thought that if he tried approaching Karkat from another direction maybe it would make a difference. “I thought we had some sort of weirdass crappy balance going on”.

It was almost painful to admit, and kind of embarrassing, but Dave trudged on anyway, because he could take a small hit to his pride if it meant getting Karkat off his back.

The troll frowned but kept his mouth shut, wanting to see where this was going.

 “I thought we could work things out like reasonable people –and trolls– because what you do bothers me, and not in a ‘I like to make you fuss and sputter and yell so we can spar’ way. What you are doing is borderline abusive on my ass, ok? Why do you want to get into my shirt so much? What’s there so interesting about my fucking nipples anyway? They’re just _skin_. Like your horns are just horns. No big deal. Get your own fucking human to fondle if you so want to get down to business, but leave me out of it”.

He hesitated, thinking about what he’d just said, and cringed slightly. If he excluded Rose, the only other humans Karkat would find were Jade and John, and the thought of Karkat trying to make his move on either of them was unpleasant at best.

“Not that I’m giving you permission to get your mack on with my bro or Harley, you sick fuck,” he continued, words tumbling out from his lips without his consent. He cursed his messed up feelings once again.

“As if I’d even want to,” Karkat spit instantly, suddenly looking a bit defensive.

“Well, that’s nice to know babe,” Dave shrugged, but didn’t feel as nonchalant as he tried to appear.

Karkat was angry. Well, angry was really a mild way to put it –he was ready to blow a fuse. Dave had no rights to tell him who to choose for his own quadrants. Bringing up John, for whom he’d entertained black, one-sided feelings, was actually a low blow Dave wasn’t even aware of doing.

Karkat had a feeling it would never stop being a sore subject for him.

And now the grubmunching fucker dared to tell him he needed his goddamn permission if he wanted to court one of the others, which he didn’t really _need_ nor _want_.

In a way, Dave’s words could be interpreted as a black solicitation –a passive aggressive move to insure his advances would be recognised for what they were… but the fucking human was not open to sharing quadrants with him, as he had made sure to mention more than once.

Karkat didn’t want to have his possible black crush negated again, but instead of feeling defeated and humiliated, like it had been with John fucking Egbert, his fury simply increased. He was angry and disappointed and relieved and pissed off at himself, because he really didn’t need to have _feelings_ for this huge idiot–

Past Karkat was a moron for doubting which shade those fucking feelings belonged to –how could he ever _pity_ Strider? _Honestly_ – but Present Karkat was an even bigger moron.

He should just give up on everything, on Dave, on his interesting vestigial mammary sacs, on his stupid growing feelings… he shouldn’t fuel them on. It wasn’t worth it.

He needed to stomp on them until they turned into a mangy carcass on the floor, then bury them somewhere and let the corpses of his stupid emotions rot forever.

Steering himself back to the situation at hand, Karkat found Dave still talking; he was babbling about some shit or other that Karkat had no intention to focus on. He was saying something about how they should just return to being people-who-ignored-each-other, back to their wobbly balance of disliking each other without making a fuss about it, about how that would be totes fine, if only Karkat could take that huge stick out of his ass for a moment and actually agree that Dave was right and had always been right.

The only thing present in Karkat’s mind was a list of all expletives and insults he’d had the pleasure of using, and some he’d never used yet. A few were of the kind that any troll would quiver in fear while listening, and probably cry a bit, too. And all the while, Karkat wanted nothing more than push him down and kick him in the face.

Strider was simply doing what he did best –vomit utter fucking _bullshit_.

He just wanted him to shut up.

Make him _stop_ spouting nonsense, _stop_ moving, _stop_ avoiding him, _stop_ acting like Karkat’s actions were dictated by weird fetishes…

If Karkat had wanted to drop the matter just seconds earlier, now his determination had strengthened, as steely as Kanaya’s choice of weapon.

He wasn’t delusional anymore over his feelings for Strider, but he still held onto a small, thin thread of hope –if he could appease his desire to touch him even if only once, but to his heart’s content, maybe he would be satiated, and his lust would go away.

After all, he didn’t _want_ to have feelings for Dave, regardless of the quadrant they belonged to.

“–so that’s it Vantas, are we clear?” Dave finished, feeling slightly worn out after his long rant. “Do you get the shit or do you need a repeat performance?”

Stressed out as he was, Dave was ready to call it quits and just hit Karkat’s head with the blunt end of his sword until the troll cried for mercy.

The fact that Karkat was staring at him without looking away was also sort of creeping him out.

Not even the crude drawing on Karkat’s cheek was helping anymore.

 “Oh, we’re clear alright,” eyes narrowing speculatively, Karkat took a step forwards.

Dave tensed up, but the troll raised both hands in what appeared to be a pacifying, I-give-up gesture. They stared at each other for what felt like forever, then Dave nodded curtly, accepting the unspoken apology.

Maybe his words had finally penetrated Karkat’s thick skull.

“Well then, Vantas, I’m glad we had this chat, I guess you _can_ teach the old dog some new tricks and all–”

Karkat’s attack was completely unexpected.

The troll actually _pounced_ on him, fangs bared and a furious, concentrated snarl on his face, nostrils flaring.

Dave yelped in shock, falling on his ass, shoulders colliding painfully with the floor, only aware of Karkat’s body on top of him; he’d lowered his guard, and the troll had used that against him.

Holy shit Karkat had actually managed to one-up him.

He wasn’t given time to react, because Karkat pushed his arms above his head, slamming his wrists down, and then grabbed the hem of his GodTier shirt, tugging it upwards.

The world was suddenly replaced with a sea of red pressed against his face and Dave found himself trapped within his own shirt.

Dave let out another affronted yelp, arching his back to push the troll away, but Karkat shoved him on his side, tugging the cape from underneath him. Dave grunted and kicked, but without avail –he felt Karkat wrap the cape around his already trapped head and arms, squeezing and curling until Dave couldn’t move his upper body anymore.

When he was sure the human was properly secured and unable to free himself, Karkat shoved him on his back again, shifting his weight so that he was sitting on his thighs.

The darkness was constricting and stuffy, and Dave cursed, trying to wiggle free; the combined weight of Karkat still on top of him and the way the cape and shirt were tied around him were enough to make him virtually helpless.

“Fuck you Karkat!” Dave wiggled a bit, trying to throw the troll off of him. Karkat didn’t even bulge, simply making a clicking, dangerous sound as he pressed both hands on his shoulders.

“Stay still. It seems I won this time so you better take it like a man, if you even know what that means, Strider”.

Dave wanted nothing more than punch that smug tone out of Karkat’s voice, but he _couldn’t_.

Karkat was right –he was trapped, and had no way to get free.

Alarmed, he realised that with his shirt pulled up to trap him, and the cape wrapping up his face and arms, his chest was basically free reign, and also pretty much naked and open to any sort of exploring.

The wave of heat and dread filling him was so strong it made him nauseous.

“Vantas–” his voice sounded rough and dry, with a tinge of desperation.

He felt Karkat’s hands move lower from his shoulders, almost reverently, tracing a line down his collarbone.

“Vantas don’t you _dare_ –”

Fingers caressed his nipples, slowly and deliberately, rubbing them and brushing against his skin, and Dave’s entire body froze at the feeling.

The hands mapped his chest, taking their time to explore; every touch made his skin burn, liquid fire cursing through his veins, leaving him breathless. Karkat was touching him, and that was enough to make every inch of his skin overly sensitive to each brush and caress, but at the same time, his stomach twisted in anger and revulsion.

He wanted it to happen, but not like _this_.

“V–Vantas–” he shivered slightly when the troll didn’t stop, fingers pinching his nipples and tugging at them instead of moving away.

Without even realising it, his body slumped on the ground, tense and buzzing with energy, but with no strength left to even move an inch, simply shivering as those hands continued exploring his nipples, stroking and rubbing them.

Dave felt wheezy and dizzy with heat, breath coming out in loud, heavy gasps, unable to stop the small jolts of pleasure resulting from Karkat’s fingers; he wanted Karkat to keep touching him, but not… not like–

Another soft brush, fingers tracing his now hard nipples, then Karkat shifted, more of his weight on Dave’s chest, and the human felt hot breath coming closer to his naked skin.

A sudden, burning image of Karkat actually _licking_ his nipples punched him in the guts –the troll’s tongue moving on his chest, tasting him, lips pursed to suck–

He arched his back instinctively, lips parting in a soft, defeated moan, and the sound made Karkat finally stop.

Dave pressed his lips together to cut any more sounds, feeling instantly humiliated.

Then, hesitantly, the hands moved away from his nipples, tracing back up his neck, and grabbed the edges of his shirt, tugging and stretching it until it ripped; light hit Dave’s face, making him wince, and his lungs were instantly filled with fresh air.

He blinked owlishly, not even realising his shades had been pushed off, still trapped in the shirt, and stared up at the troll with narrowed eyes.

 

At first, Karkat had been basking in his victory; he had Dave where he wanted him –pliant and helpless underneath him, unable to stop him from finally exploring those alien nubs– and he was determined to get his fill.

The human’s skin was smooth and soft under his fingers, so different from a troll’s exterior membrane sheath, but it was pleasant and warm; the nipples didn’t actually feel much different altogether, just nubs of darker skin that were harder to the touch, jutting out slightly the more he touched them… but they were alien, and enticing, and _Dave’s_.

He played with them a bit, transfixed and intrigued, and felt them harden under his fingers.

The more he brushed against Dave’s skin the more he wanted to touch it, like an addiction, explore and map it, not just the nipples but every inch of it.

He could feel Dave shivering underneath him, body tense and twitching, and he could hear him breathing heavily inside the shirt.

It made Karkat feel weird. On one side, the whole situation was sending thoughts through his thinkpan, and Rose’s words echoed in his auricular sponge clots, making him swallow on a suddenly dry mouth, heat coiling inside him.

On the other side, though… he suddenly felt a bit of shame. He was still clinging to the fact that he was just interested at a platonic level, but he was just deluding himself, and he knew it.

Still, this was just like a battle, and Karkat had won it. He was just solving things his way.

And yet…

Fuck, even now the desire of touching Dave more wasn’t leaving. In fact, it wasn’t even remotely satisfying.

Yes, Karkat was able to touch those human nipples after so much time spent thinking about them, he could barely contain his excitement at that, but… it was _not_ satisfying.

It simply wasn’t enough.

Suddenly angry, Karkat grunted, pinching Dave’s nipples and earning a small muffled sound for that, making him feel extremely pleased, but not yet satisfied.

He wanted to see… he wanted…

Karkat shifted a bit, leaning down, and breathed deeply, staring at the way the human’s chest was heaving and relaxing, at how the expanse of skin looked so appealing and soft, and part of him wondered, idly and in a daze, what kind of flavour would Dave’s skin have.

He’d bitten Dave once, on the hand, but that had been during a fight. He hadn’t tasted anything but salt and blood.

His mouth watered as he leaned down, his own breath coming out faster as he parted his lips, bloodpusher thumping wildly in his chest, closer and closer to that skin–

Dave arched up underneath him, and then moaned.

The muffled sound made Karkat freeze and push himself back up again, eyes wide as he stared down at his prey, eyes automatically moving up to meet Dave’s own… only to stop when he realised the other teen’s face was still wrapped up in his shirt and cape.

He couldn’t see Dave’s face. Even if it only meant staring at his hideous shades and curse because they covered up his eyes… it was still better than this. He couldn’t check to see if his ministrations were breaking through his cool façade, he couldn’t kiss–

Karkat’s chest constricted instantly at his thoughts, any other sound that wasn’t Dave’s heavy breathing gone due to how loud his own bloodpusher was.

_He wanted to see Dave’s face._

With hands slightly trembling, Karkat tugged at the shirt covering Dave’s head, annoyed when the tight cloth didn’t give to his demands, and then smirked when he managed to rip it off, pushing it up until Dave’s head resurfaced from the sea of red.

Dave wheezed and took a deep breath, eyes fluttering open, and Karkat realised with a start that the shades were gone, probably trapped within the confines of his shirt.

It was the first time he’d caught the Knight of Time without those stupid things, and Karkat eagerly leaned forwards.

Red eyes met his own, and the troll could only _stare_ , unable to look away.

Flushed and panting and spread under him, with a glint of anger and confusion and humiliation on his face, Dave looked open and readable for the first time ever. He looked like a cornered animal.

Karkat wanted to _kiss_ him.

And even worse… he could no longer deny what his insides were saying.

He _wanted_ Dave in his quadrants.

He wanted to steal whatever little breath Dave had left in his lungs, and taste his mouth. He wanted to bite on his lip and draw blood, and he wanted to run his hands down his sides, and pull him close.

His thinkpan, his bloodpusher, his bulge… they were all singing the same chorus, loud and demanding and _strong_ , and Karkat found himself wondering why he had denied himself for so long.

The sight of Dave, with or without shades…

Dave, who had riled him up for more than a year, insulting him, using rap and human words to confuse him, prodding and poking until Karkat could no longer think.

_He hated him so much._

Dave, who had turned into his sparring partner, who remained at his side whenever he woke up because of a nightmare, silent but supportive, who knew what it meant to make sacrifices…

He looked so pitiful and open and wounded and _he wanted to hold him close and kiss him._

His instincts couldn’t fit him into a slot, but they were screaming at Karkat to mark him as his own, and think later.

Karkat cursed loudly. Of course things would never be easy with him. They never were. Of course the fault was always Strider’s. First with Terezi, and now…

“Fuck you, Strider,” he grumbled, deflating visibly.

“… fuck me? Fuck _me_?” without his shades, Dave looked far too open, and Karkat found himself mesmerised by the wrinkles around the other’s nose, and by the flashes of anger present in his eyes. “You were the one who harassed me, kept on groping and following me around heedless of me telling you to fucking stop, ‘ain’t funny no more’ speeches I shoved your way every single goddamn day, and then, after I make the mistake to give you another chance, you tie me up so you can get your fill at manhandling my chest! It’s priceless really! Makes me wonder how the fuck you managed to successfully keep everybody alive till now, if your leadership skills are as half-assed as your ability to listen to others talking!”

Instead of feeling another wave of rage, Karkat actually felt _guilty_ ; suddenly things slid into place, and he realised with a startled gasp that his actions in the past weeks had been shameful at best, mortifying at worst.

 Dave’s words almost physically hurt, and he had to admit they were kind of true. He had been a shitty leader so far, and despite Rose’s words and Dave’s repeated demands for him to stop, Karkat still had managed to fuck everything up big time.

Past Karkat had been a huge lump of chewed nooksniffer, and Present Karkat wasn’t doing such a better job, either.

Dave must have seen something change in the troll’s face, because he deflated slightly, eyes glancing away from Karkat.

“Fuck. Ok. Shit. I didn’t mean that. You’ve done well as a leader. Better than I would have, by all means. But fuck, Karkat. I…” he still didn’t look at him, his cheeks turning even redder. “This shit is humiliating as fuck for me. I admit I had fun riling you up but I never moved into your comfort bubble, fuck, even I have more tact than that. It’s fucking unfair that you go prancing around about how much your quadrant bullshit doesn’t count into the equation, and then you use all your spare time to fucking grope the hell out of me”.

Karkat was, he had to grudgingly admit it, horrid at relationships. Not that he would admit it with anyone else, but the fact remained.

Pissing off Terezi wasn’t exactly the way to her bloodpusher, at least not the red part of it. Then there was his failed blackrom with John, and Kanaya’s ashen attempts… not to mention trying to fill his pale quadrant with a rampaging troll (though that last one was actually a success).

He was good if it came to help others, but God help him, he sucked when they included him.

Despite that, he _wasn’t_ the densest troll ever.

There was annoyance in Dave’s tone, yes, and anger, but… there was something else too. He was angry because he thought Karkat didn’t consider him worth a quadrant. He was _upset_ because of that.

Dave Strider had just indirectly admitted he was disappointed for Karkat’s lack of quadrant interest in him.

His bloodpusher swelled up.

Licking his dry lips, Karkat leaned down slightly. He might have admitted his feelings for Dave mere seconds before, but there was no way he was going to pull back. Not a fucking chance. “You fucker,” he grunted, eyes narrowed. “You want to fill a quadrant with me”.

Dave glanced at him, mouth a thin line, and it was then he realised he wasn’t wearing his shades anymore. With a curse, he turned his face away, tilting his head so that Karkat wouldn’t look at him.

“Get off and get the fuck away from me, lousy troll,” he hissed. “You aren’t even remotely sorry for being a douche, are you”.

This was the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to him, and he’d been put into a pot by nakking red crocos, he’d walked naked on the roof with only a smuppet to cover his privates because his Bro had wanted to teach him a lesson, and he had faced the dread of having to explain smuppet ass and phallic proboscis to his classmates once.

Having Karkat find out he harboured an unwanted crush on him definitely topped it all.

Dave groaned, hiding his face in the crook of his still tied up arm, and wondered if dooming this particular timeline by going back in time would be worth it if he could keep Karkat away from him.

The red spread from his cheeks up to his ears.

Karkat exhaled slowly. “You _do_ ,” he stated, voice coming out softer than he’d wanted.

“You win, Vantas. You know what? You win. If you wanted to get to this point then congrats, you’re the winner, it’s _you_. You managed to one-up Dave Strider, king of cool and rap. Now will you fucking get off me and let me go? If I have to dig myself a bigger grave, it’ll end up being as big as this fucking meteor”.

“Shut up, you absolute moronic idiot,” Karkat barked out, not willing to put up with Dave’s babbling. He was still trying to wrap his thinkpan around the fact that Dave actually felt the same. Or something. “You truly are an insufferable prick”.

“I…” Dave’s voice trembled, and once again he felt utterly humiliated. “Fuck you”.

Karkat lifted one hand, fingers tracing Dave’s red cheeks, then down, brushing against tender, dry lips parted to take a shuddery breath, then up, brushing the skin underneath one of Dave’s eyes. The movement made Dave fall silent, eyes growing wide but still refusing to look at him.

“I wasn’t lying,” Karkat muttered. He hadn’t wanted Dave in his quadrants because it would be stupid –he’d already tried with a human and the rejection stung– but he had been thinking about it.

Dave had been acting as a potential kismesis, but at the same time, he had been so perfectly pitiful.

He acted all cool and chill, but it was obvious to anyone who had eyes to look that he was simply trying too hard. It was amusing and pathetic. Karkat had seen that often even before he and Dave had started sharing small moments with one another when no one else was around.

The idiot had offered a side of himself to Karkat that no one else ever got to see, except maybe Terezi, and now the idiot GodTier had just admitted he was interested in _Karkat’s_ quadrants, not _Terezi’s_.

At least, not her flushed one.

“I didn’t want you in my quadrants,” he continued. Dave actually flinched under his touch, and Karkat felt a pang of regret inside his chest. He hurried on, not wanting the human to get the wrong idea. “But Past Karkat is a bulgesucker idiot anyway,” he grunted out, shrugging. His fingers were still tracing Dave’s face. “I should fucking know what is best for me, after all”.

Dave was still tense under him, but his eyes moved to look at him, even if his head remained tilted sideways.

The fire burning into his eyes sent a shiver down Karkat’s back.

“I don’t fucking want your useless pity, Vantas,” Dave’s voice was low and spiteful, but without much strength. “What made you change idea so quickly? My manly nipples? Was it the allure of touching my steamy hot body? Should I spread myself open for you to get your fill before you decide you had enough and you can go back to whatever the fuck you do in your spare time? Watching shitty movies and hugging your wannabe boyfriend Juggalo, maybe? Laughing at my idiocy?”

There it was again –the spiteful tone, cornered and hurt, and Karkat huffed out.

“So you have a fucking interesting alien body structure, but don’t insult my intellect, my bulge is not the one in control of what I want, Strider”.

Dave tilted his head slightly, observing him for a moment, careful, tentative, and Karkat realised what he’d said, and it was then his turn to look away, embarrassed at his own admission.

“Huh. You _do_ want me,” Dave murmured, one eyebrow moving up.

“Oh, shut the fuck up Strider, don’t let this get to your fucking thinkpan,” Karkat muttered, his other hand moving to trace small patters on Dave’s torso, making him tense up again. “What I mean is that I… I was wrong. I… I think you would be proper quadrant material, if you can shut your trap long enough for me to instruct you on how it _works_ ”.

The human still didn’t move, but the intensity of his stare burned its way through Karkat, making him feel naked and open, even if the one without shirt and shades was Dave.

It was not _fair_.

It wasn’t fair how much Karkat wanted to kiss that fucker. And yet, he had to wait still. He had to make sure Dave _understood_.

“What quadrant?” Dave barked out his question all of sudden, shaking Karkat out of his thoughts.

“Huh?”

“What quadrant, Karkat?” Dave looked like he wanted to say something more, but bit down on his lower lip and met Karkat’s eyes, daring him to reply. “You said I’m quadrant material, right? Then which one would it be? Do I need to rap that for you to understand?”

Karkat couldn’t reply. His jumbled up feelings for Strider were complex and the only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted Dave –black, red… it didn’t fucking matter, as long as he could just count the fucking human in there.

 But it was clearly obvious to Karkat that for the human it was important; why would it be, though? Humans didn’t even have quadrants, and to them blackrom was just–

Oh.

 _Oh_.

The sudden realisation that Dave had flushed feelings for him took his breath away. One thing was to accept that Dave actually was crushing on him, but another was to find out it wasn’t just a flipping crush.

It was a _redrom_ crush.

While the thought of engaging in red, romantic actions with Strider wasn’t appalling at all –and was in fact something Karkat would be willing to do anytime, no fucks given– he had to honestly say he wasn’t sure his feelings were simply red.

“I… I have no fucking idea,” he muttered. He guessed he just ought to be honest with Dave right now. He had the feeling that lying would put them in a horrible position. “I… a part of me hates you. It’s easy to get riled up and want to rip you a new one, Strider. You fucking know how to have people hate you. But–” he continued hurriedly, feeling Dave tense underneath him again, “But shit, it’s not just black. It’s… there’s red too”.

Dave stared at him some more, silently observing him, then Karkat felt his body slowly relax underneath him.

“Are we… doing this?” Karkat asked, his insides twisting as he leaned down a bit, taking great pleasure in staring Dave right in his eyes.

Dave’s lips twitched upwards, amusement flashing on his face, then slowly nodded. The troll didn’t know it, but he’d just echoed one of Dave’s most famous webcomic quotes.

“I wouldn’t mind trying out your fucked up romance,” he finally muttered, voice so low Karkat could only hear it because he was literally sitting on top of him.

Karkat felt his own lips stretch upwards in a smile but he had to press the matter some more. “What if… what if I turn out black for you, in the end?”

With a snort, the Knight of Time shook his head. “You guys flip a lot, right? You were far too eager to share Rezi with me with your stupid schedules and that was even before any fucks were given to… this. _Us_. I think we can sort it out when the time comes, babe. For now I want to try out this alien dating service”.

Karkat grunted at Dave insulting his planning skills, but relaxed and nodded. Even if things usually had to be set in the correct quadrants and slots, it was common for relationships to switch a lot, especially at first.

Sometimes they settled on a quadrant neither troll expected, too.

And Red for Strider, well… it was an option Karkat wanted to explore.

Ah, but first, he had to swallow his pride and stop being an idiot.

“Strider… Dave,” Karkat prodded the human in the chest, the inside of his chest squeezing painfully as Dave turned towards him, waiting. “I’m… I’m fucking regretful, ok? Don’t think this is going to make me mellow as grubsauce but I’ve acted like a blind moronic tree chimpbeast”.

Dave blinked, slowly translating the Karkat-jargon into something understandable.

“Oh, you’re sorry because you groped me against my will,” he commented. His cheeks were still flushed, but he was clearly more relaxed now, and Karkat sighed, feeling a bit relieved.

“Yes, I am,” he grunted out.

“You’re forgiven,” the human replied, licking his lips. “Ain’t the way to treat your man, but I’ll be nice this time because you’re a weird alien ass. I know… you didn’t mean to be so annoying. It comes easily to you”.

Karkat snorted, but underneath the sarcastic quips he detected Dave’s relief, and he felt suddenly light again.

“Now, will you get your fat ass away from me? I can’t feel my legs anymore, Vant-ass,” Dave wriggled a bit.

He had just agreed to alien-date a loud idiot –a loud idiot he was crushing on– and while he was actually satisfied with it, the fact that he was trapped under Karkat, half naked and unable to move his arms, still made him uncomfortable.

“Hmmm,” Karkat hummed, tapping his fingers on Dave’s lower stomach, then his lips twitched up in a sly smirk. “What about no, fucker”.

“Karkat, what the hell, this is annoying, demeaning and even if we’re alien-dating now I see no reason to–”

“Shut up, Dave. For once in your life just _shove_ it and let me kiss you”.

“… oh. Ok”.

Karkat leaned down, but in his haste he missed Dave’s lips, landing a few inches on the right and feeling Dave snort.

“ _Strider_ –”

“Come on you big idiot, your aim shouldn’t be that shi–”

“Insufferable prick,” rolling his eyes, Karkat shifted slightly and finally kissed him.

It was a chaste, short kiss, their lips merely pressed together, hesitant but willing; neither really knew what they were doing, and Karkat’s nose bumped uncomfortably with Dave’s, but they were not willing to part, enjoying the closeness for what it was.

When the troll finally pulled away, flustered and with his bloodpusher doing weird flips inside him, he found Dave staring at him, cheeks equally flushed and looking slightly lost, but pleased.

“Not bad, for a prudish human,” Karkat beat Dave to it, and observed with glee as Dave’s cheeks turned even redder.

“The fuck. No. I’m in no way prude, man. You’re the perverted one, always hankering for my man-meat…”

“I told you to shut up, Strider”.

“ _Make me_ ”.

Karkat’s smirk grew as he leaned down again for a second kiss.

 


	6. Where Ectosiblings bond and fluff happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm wrapping it up by adding the rest of the meteor's reactions to Davekat happening, then there will probably be an epilogue with some porn, but I'm not sure what that will be, since it will probably be their first time and you know how awkward things get to be then.
> 
> Next chapter you see Terezi and Gamzee :D

 

**Chapter 06: Where ectosiblings bond and fluff happens**

**\---**

It took Dave over thirty minutes to convince Karkat to finally let him go, and even then, it came at his dignity’s expenses.

By the time his hands were finally free and he was allowed to sit up, his lips had acquired a red, swollen quality, as Karkat had taken upon himself to practice his aim on them. He also sported a blossoming purple splotch on his collarbone, but at least Karkat, while hickey–free, looked equally ruffled.

Wriggling away from the troll and pushing down his shirt, Dave found his shades hiding within the folds of his GodTier clothes; he tried to slide them on but Karkat’s hand stopped him, grey fingers closing around his own.

“What is it now, Vantas,” Dave grunted out, voice slightly raw. “Didn’t you humiliate me enough for one day?”

Karkat punched him on the arm with his free hand and leaned forwards to initiate another kiss. Dave snorted but welcomed him, hesitating before placing his hands on the troll’s shoulders. All of sudden he had no idea what to do with himself, how much closeness he wanted, how much closeness _Karkat_ wanted.

Now that he was free, Karkat also seemed to have lost his boldness, hesitating a few inches from Dave’s face, and they fumbled around a bit, awkward and unsure where to look.

Dave’s grip on Karkat’s shoulders tightened experimentally, wanting to get the troll slightly closer but not wanting to force him, and Karkat reacted instantly, arms slipping around Dave’s waist, pulling him flush against him as they kissed again.

It was another soft kiss, smoother than before but still tentative as fuck, and Dave would have laughed at them both if it didn’t feel so _nice_. The fact that they were testing each other, close but not demanding, keeping the kiss soft, almost reaffirming their decision to give this quadrant thing a try…

It was nice. He was kissing one loud smartass alien he was crushing on. He was _enjoying_ it.

That was enough. No irony intended in the equation. Fuck irony.

When Karkat pulled away from the kiss but kept holding him close, eyes open to stare at him, Dave almost followed him instantly to continue their kissing again.

“You’re thirsty for more of this Strider, huh,” he muttered instead, but his voice lacked the expected sarcasm, and was actually breathy. He was supposed to shut up and enjoy it, but his brain worked afterhours, and always had shit to say.

Karkat grunted, but pecked him on the cheek, close to his mouth, and both flushed at the spontaneous act. “I can’t see you protesting so shut your trap before I strangle your bony neck in half and feast upon your dead body”.

“Kinky,” Dave murmured, lips twitching. “But I don’t mind that”.

With one last kiss Karkat pulled away, and they extricated themselves from each other, instantly feeling cold and with far too many awkward limbs everywhere.

Hesitating a bit, Dave finally slid his shades back on, and this time Karkat didn’t stop him.

The shades back on his face should have been a soothing comfort, a familiar barrier, but the way Karkat was looking at him made Dave feel naked anyway. The blush wasn’t going away anytime soon.

It was stupid to feel giddy for that, but after the build-up, after their fights and the tense moments, Karkat molesting him and Dave’s disbelief in regards to quadrants and how the universe was surely laughing at his expenses, he actually felt… happy.

Maybe that was normal. He had no idea. He sucked at this romance stuff. He hoped Karkat actually knew what they were doing because he had _no_ idea.

Glancing at the troll, who was actually looking pleased, Dave decided that maybe it would be better if Karkat _didn’t_ know. He’d be insufferably annoying if he could one-up Dave like that.

No need to give him more leverage than strictly necessary.

Karkat cleared his throat. “Are you going to move and come back to the lab room with me or not?” he asked.

Dave nodded, absently licking his lips, then stopped and stared down at his ripped shirt.

“Shit, everybody will know what happened,” he hissed, touching the visible purple spot on his neck with a finger. “Rose will have a field day, _fuck_ ”.

“Let them squeeze the juices out of their thinkpans all they want, no fucks are given,” Karkat looked positively glowing, and Dave felt his annoyance melt away.

He guessed that he would be able to bear the embarrassment and following interrogations if Karkat kept looking like that.

Those damn mushy feelings would be the _end_ of him.

Dave’s eyes caught sight of the drawings on Karkat’s face, and his lips twitched in a satisfied smirk; at least the attention wouldn’t be _all_ on him.

Karkat stomped down the corridor, glancing behind his shoulder to see if Dave was following. Dave hurried up, feeling self-conscious when the troll stopped to wait for him next to the transportalizer.

For a moment, the two stared at each other awkwardly, Dave not really understanding what Karkat was waiting for, and Karkat impatiently tapping his foot on the floor.

“Uhm… what?” Dave stared as Karkat wiggled his fingers. “Is this some weird Alternian ritual or something?”

Karkat’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Yes, I guess your deprived, inferior species don’t have a thing called holding hands there. Well fuck it then, I think I just flipped black on you,” he grunted.

Dave resisted the urge to facepalm and refused to admit his cheeks had turned red again, ruining all his chances to grab his cool factor back.

Karkat sounded serious, but there was a tinge of amusement in his voice that meant he was simply teasing him.

Maybe.

Feeling even more self-conscious, embarrassed and silly, Dave hesitantly reached out to touch Karkat’s hand –only to have the troll snatch his hand like a thief would a prized wallet, making a great show of intertwining their fingers together.

It felt a bit clammy and warm, but Dave found out he didn’t mind.

“Now let’s go, you pathetic wreck”.

Far more focused on their hands than he should have been, Dave simply nodded absently, and Karkat tugged him onto the transportalizer.

As they walked back to the lab room, Dave’s ears picked up someone talking, and inwardly cursed; his control on his powers had slipped at some point during Karkat manhandling him, and that meant the other inhabitants of the meteor were now unstopped.

And probably wondering where the two of them were.

Getting closer, the mumbles turned into Kanaya’s voice.

“It is my guess that we should allow Karkat and Dave some time to solve their troubles,” she was saying, voice calm and reasonable. “While it would be proper for them to have an Auspistice in case they truly do not want to go down a path they would perhaps regret later on, they should be given a chance to confront whatever tension exists between them before one of us tries to interfere again”.

Karkat’s fingers tightened their hold on his own, and Dave realised he was holding his breath.

There was absolutely no reason to be apprehensive about what the others would think –he didn’t care about it, he _didn’t_ … but that didn’t make his heart stop racing anyway.

To add uncool on top of uncool, he was starting to feel nauseous again.

He wondered what Karkat was thinking about. For how emotionless his own face was all the time, it was the troll who looked unreadable now.

Then, with barely a warning, Karkat stomped into the room, tugging Dave with him, determined to trudge in as usual.

 

Everybody turned to look at them as they entered the lab.

Rose’s gaze zeroed in on Dave’s face at first, then to the bruise that his shirt’s ripped neck couldn’t hide, then even lower to their clasped hands. He couldn’t read her expression, but he suddenly felt vaguely annoyed when he could see no amused smirk blossom on her face.

He’d expected her to gloat, or at least smirk in a way that would show how she had expected this to happen…

But her face remained carefully blank.

Dave’s gaze fell on Terezi then; the troll was sniffing towards them, face contorted into a curious, confused expression, and he suddenly had the strong need to rip his hand away from Karkat’s hold.

Terezi had been honest to him, telling him that she entertained reddish feelings for Karkat, while Dave had been an idiot, keeping his own feelings secret from her, and now…

Shit, he had no idea what to tell her.

He refused to glance at Karkat, but he felt the troll squeeze his hand, so he safely guessed he had sort of underestimated the situation too.

Dave guessed it was his moment to shine with some carelessly placed, long-winded rant-rap that would be void of any sort of awkwardness he might be feeling at the moment, so he opened his mouth to speak… but Karkat beat him to it.

“It might have come to your attention that this fucker and I are holding hands,” he started. “And unless your thinkpans have been emptied of all cognitive abilities, rendering you not much different from a group of celluloid-based organisms with no conscious thought, this means Strider and I resolved our controversial bias through a prolonged session of sloppy makeouts. And yes, it loathes me to be the one to break my own rule about no interspecies encounters of a similar variety, but as we all know what a grubsquelching moron I am, you’re free to sue me or offer an equal amount of well-deserved accusation to my very obvious hypocritical actions. This will not, however, change the ending result”.

He paused, but only to take in some more air. Dave inwardly spent a moment to worry about the fact that instead of being horribly sickened by Karkat’s rant, he actually found it cute.

Feelings were _scary_.

“So yes, we’re actually going to give interspecies romance a fucking try. You could even speculate I’ve filled my flushed quadrant, even if with a bulgesucking idiot,” Karkat finalised his rant with a small, upwards tilt of his head, looking proud for all intended purposes, but his hold on Dave’s hand was steely.

All of sudden, though, Karkat seemed to falter, eyes darting around the room for a moment, and he turned to look at Dave for a second.

“I… I have to go,” he muttered, startling the human. “I need to talk with…” he glanced over at Kanaya; the movement was small, but it resulted in the jade blood stiffening, hands clenching on her dress.

For a moment, Dave didn’t really understand what Karkat was saying –the mayor was the only other inhabitant of the meteor who wasn’t present… then he remembered Karkat’s deranged moirail, and understood.

He wasn’t the best at alien relationships, even though he was now in a tentative one, but by what Terezi had told him more than once, moirails were the first to know when stuff happened, so he guessed Karkat had every right to go to Gamzee, even if that meant leaving Dave alone in the lab room.

Which was perfectly ok. He wasn’t nervous or anything.

Karkat’s grip on his hand lessened, and then the troll was walking away, looking determined but calm, and Dave couldn’t help following him with his eyes, until the troll left the room, leaving him alone to face his demise.

Kanaya and Rose looked at each other, the troll with one hand pressed on her pocket, the human with a blank expression that gave away nothing, then Kanaya licked her lips and stomped forwards.

She stopped by Dave’s side and smiled at him, the tension at the edge of her lips confirming she was only outwardly calm. “Congratulation on filling your quadrant with Karkat, Dave,” she stated. She seemed genuinely happy for him, so he nodded at her, watching as she stepped on the closest transportalizer and left.

“S–” Dave opened his lips to speak, but Rose turned her back on him, sitting at the table and patting the chair at her side, waiting for him to join her.

He shook his head, eyes turned to look at Terezi, but the troll tapped her cane on the floor. “I know where to find you,” she stated with a grin. “But I have something to _do_ first, coolkid”.

With a small wave, Terezi turned around and left the room as well, bypassing the transportalizer to leave through the door, like Karkat.

Dave swallowed –he didn’t know shit and had no idea what to do with, if he needed to follow Terezi or offer her some time alone, if he had to–

Rose hummed softly and cleared her throat.

“Perhaps it would be for the best if you were to sit here, Dave,” she stated. “Don’t you agree that we should talk a bit?”

Feeling like he was consenting for his soul to be torn apart and left bare for her to see, Dave forced his tense body to move towards the table, flopping down not at Rose’s side, but in front of her.

She seemed to accept it, but instead of staring at him, like he’d expected her to, she stared down at her hands, almost as tense as Dave was.

The silence seemed to stretch on and on. Rose didn’t seem inclined to talk, and Dave didn’t want to cave and be the first to speak. But she had a way to just… be, that made her imposing without even having to say a single word.

Rose looked up at him, purple eyes slightly narrowed, and he bit down on his tongue, feeling words about to tumble out from his lips.

He couldn’t stand it.

“So I’m with Vantas ok? Jeez, way to put pressure on a guy Lalonde,” he groaned and gave in to his impellent need to slump down on the table, hiding his face in his arms.

“I didn’t say a word, Dave,” Rose replied, but there was a hint of a smile in her words. “But if you are eager to inform me of your changed status with Karkat, you are free to do so”.

He glanced up at her, not moving from his position, and he caught Rose looking at him with a vague hint of worry. It made him feel annoyed at her, but also strangely touched.

“No need to fret on it like he’s a wolf ready to feast on my meaty insides,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “It’s not… we’re not…” suddenly the whole quadrant thing seemed less important and more like a silly, alien thing, so he swallowed and looked away. “It’s good, ok, no need to psychoanalyze me for liking alien dong or anything”.

She sighed a bit. Her fingers were digging into the table, right in the line of Dave’s vision.

“I admit that the way you and Karkat were circling each other had attracted my attention,” she finally said, careful with her words in a way Dave hadn’t seen since probably forever, “but I hadn’t… neither of you had truly expressed honest romantic interest, so I had safely supposed you would not reach this point, even though the last time I had a lengthy speech with Karkat, he sounded pretty interested in the matters of human… biology”.

Dave zeroed on her words instantly, easily recalling the way he’d left the two of them in the same room barely a week before.

“So wait,” he finally lifted his head from the table, pushing his shades up on his nose. “You actually said something that sent Vantas hankering for some Strider meat, and yet you say you didn’t think we had anything romantic shit going? What did you think it was?”

Her cheeks were dusted pink, and she looked to the side. “Idiots being idiots,” she admitted.

Dave groaned softly. “Well that, too, I guess, but mostly _Karkat_ ok,” he muttered. “Still that made him way more daring than before. Whatever you told him got him all high and mighty like a fucking doped horse at a race,” he fidgeted, remembering Karkat’s hands on his chest, and pushed the thought away, aware that thinking about Karkat in any unchaste way would send Rose’s senses tingling from afar.

He didn’t need to give her more leeway than he was doing already.

“I’m actually sorta grateful, in a twisted horrible way where part of me wants to run to the hills to hide forever at the thought that you somehow sent Vantas off after me, and the other part is simply content but also _horrified_ , because shit you’re my sister in that weird ectoslime way where it makes it even more uncomfortable what you’re trying to do here, but–”

“Dave…”

“–still that warrants some kind of reluctant but honest gratitude, Lalonde, cause me and Vantas are tight as shit now, and…”

“Dave…”

“So yes, I know you dig that stuff and all the shit and you don’t need no help in getting into my head since you seem to know the way ‘round more than I do, but… yeah. Well…” he hesitated for a second, swallowed the lump in his throat, then shrugged. “Thanks for meddling”.

Rose had been about to say something again, but at his words she paused, looking surprised. She observed him carefully, and Dave, finally sensing that something was off, held her stare, waiting for her to talk.

For a long instant Rose looked like she wanted to say something, but she held back twice, just looking at him, though Dave had no idea what she was searching for.

Finally, she seemed to deflate.

“Are you sure that is what you want?” she asked.

The question surprised him.

If he had to admit the truth, before facing Karkat he hadn’t thought about giving it a try. But now… now things had changed.

“Well, it wasn’t the way I would have wanted things to go but fuck if I’m not relatively content with the results, even if I personally would have petitioned for something different than the damsel in distress who gets groped by her prince charming… wait, fuck that, by the _knight_ charming”.

The idea of Karkat in such a role made him snort, and Rose’s lips twitched upwards as well, sharing his amusement. There was less tension in her shoulders, even though Dave had no idea what had caused it to appear and what had made it leave.

“You chill?” he pushed his shades lower a small fragment, observing her without the dark tinge of the lenses, and waited for her to answer.

He didn’t need her approval, nor her consent. But… he wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t _want_ it anyway. Despite all their banter, the snippy remarks, the layers of irony and all that bullshit, he _loved_ his sister.

Rose was all snuggly-wuggly with Kanaya but sometimes Dave had to wonder about the real extent of their relationship. Rose had relaxed a lot from the days before Sburb, and she just seemed to pursue things she had interest in with earnest dedication and a lot less passive-aggressive bullshit, at least by his standards, but there were times Dave wondered if he was reading her correctly at all.

Her nod came almost instantly, despite her previous hesitance. “I wouldn’t want my dear brother to be uncomfortable with his very first experience with a romantic interest, even if said romantic interest is an alien loudmouth with self-esteem problems and a penchant for verbal animosity,” she commented.

She was finally smiling –that small, amused smirk Dave so loathed to see on her face and that he was so grateful to see now. So just because of that, he allowed the comment to slide, and smirked at her.

Dave stood up, stretching his back and self-consciously tugging his shirt’s neck up to hide the purple hickey when Rose’s glance fell on it again.

“Stop staring at the hideous purple shit, Lalonde,” he grunted out, pressing one hand on his chest and tilting his head to the side. “That troll doesn’t know how to treat his princess well, I tell you”.

Rose giggled, and the sound made Dave snort. He tried to collect himself, but Rose seemed to have something else in mind.

“Did Karkat realise his whole face has been your canvas, or was that revelation something you reserved for your private time with him?”

“I think that is reserved for the blackrom thingy, actually,” Dave managed to keep calm for a grand total of three seconds before he lost it.

The situation was more than just ironic, and soon they were both laughing together, Rose’s chuckles hidden behind her hand and Dave’s shoulders shaking in mirth as he doubled over.

“I think it’s time for me to go check on my blind bff,” he finally stated, trying to gain his composure back. “I’ll pester you on your computer if it gets too late”.

“You opting to fill your pale quadrant now that you’ve been politically correct and tried the alien way, brother dearest?”

Dave snorted again, but shrugged, unwilling to explain the depths of his relationship with Terezi to Rose. It was bad enough she would try to pry all the juicy details out of him relating to Karkat, even if he was her brother and technically such subjects should make her back away.

He had no intentions to offer more fuel to her psychoanalytical tendencies.

With a small wave, without turning around, Dave stomped over to the transportalizer and left the room.

Rose watched him go, still smiling.

 


	7. Where Moirails talk and Blackrom is hinted at

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admit I was hesitant over this particular chapter. I am never sure how well I write Gamzee (or Terezi, honestly), so if you want to leave a reassuring comment or concrit, I'd love both.
> 
> I also want to add a couple notes: this was written pre-recent updates, and as such, it won't include GamTer black. (you can consider this flying off towards uncharted AT lands).
> 
> Second note, Gamzee's speech is rendered like his typing because I've always figured his voice to be fluctuating between a lower and a louder tone, and wanted to fit that in. I hope that it won't be seen as jarring while reading.

 

**Chapter 07: Where Moirails talk and Blackrom is hinted at**

**\---**

Karkat hurried down the corridor.

His desire to reach his moirail as soon as possible to talk was his top priority and his bloodpusher was racing inside his cage cavity.

He had postponed his feelings jam with Gamzee because of his confused feelings for the fucking human, but now that this was mostly settled –he guessed there was still a chance of vacillation, but nothing that should worry him, especially if Dave himself had no black tendencies towards him– he simply wanted to jam.

He had been spending quite some time away from his moirail in his selfish bout of idiocy and confusion, and he was determined to stitch it back up and admit his faults to Gamzee, especially now that he could assure the Indigo that he had no intention to step between him and his black interest.

Despite his admissions that Dave was easy to hate, it was almost amusing how easy it had been to settle into something redder. If Future Karkat had popped around to troll Past him about the chance that he would claim a quadrant with Strider, of all people, he would have laughed at his future self.

And now it was true.

He _was_ tentatively forming a matespritship with Dave Strider, and the thought wasn’t as horrid and vile as it would have been merely half a sweep before.

Funny how things changed.

Of course he’d have to take it easy, and be open to be taught how humans worked, too –he couldn’t just push his ways on his matesprit-to-be, especially not after the shameful obsession with his nipples…

A soft noise coming from behind him halted his thoughts and made him stop, and Karkat tilted his head to the side; the rhythmic sound of a cane against the floor alerted him someone was following him.

He could recognise that sound everywhere.

Karkat froze.

He slowly turned around, not sure what to expect, and waited as Terezi turned around the corner, her expression lighting up as she sniffed him.

“I was searching for you,” she said, moving closer.

Fumbling with himself, not sure what to say, Karkat waited until she was close enough. Her presence still caused his internal food-digestive system to go all fluttery, but the feeling was somewhat not as strong as before, especially compared to the thrill of kissing Dave.

He was used to think of her whenever the whole romance ideal came up, of holding her hand and spending hours talking with her, and of course all the sloppy makeouts, but now… the thought was still pleasant, alluring, but not the same.

He had to blame one fucking alien for this.

The realization that his feelings for Terezi were changing came as a shock to him, so he didn’t even notice the cane heading his way until it hit him right on the shin, sending him stumbling backwards.

The cane swung his way again, tripping him as he tried to stand again, and Karkat gracelessly fell on his ass, grunting in pain.

Eyes wide, sprawled on the floor with Terezi looming over him, Karkat stared at her lips slowly stretching into a wide, derisive smirk.

She looked amused, predatory and completely deranged.

She looked _splendid_.

“So,” her voice was low and teasing and she sounded in complete control, but Karkat had known Terezi for sweeps, and he easily detected the way her knuckles were clenching around the top end of her cane. “Making moves on the coolkid, are you Karkat?”

For a moment Karkat was completely lost. He had no idea what was going on, his thoughts focused half on Gamzee and half on Dave, but the way Terezi was staring down at him… it looked like she was expecting him to say something – _anything_ – to her.

He didn’t _know_ what to say. To be honest, it was never easy to understand Terezi at all, or he would have landed in her stable quadrant sweeps ago. She was sharp and smart and callous and beautiful, but she was also such an _irritating_ troll.

Karkat felt a jolt of annoyance. He wanted to say something, but he had no idea what to say… and if she was _expecting_ him to talk, maybe he would actually stay _silent_ for once. It wasn’t like she’d ever been clear with him either.

Terezi was still staring at him, but her determined countenance faltered the longer Karkat remained silent, and her smirk trembled slightly; she was quick to recover, though, swinging her cane and once again taking Karkat completely by surprise, hitting him on his head.

It wasn’t a strong blow, but it was enough to make him wince and curse at her.

“What the f–”

He stood up, eyes narrowed in anger, but she interrupted him before he could start his rant.

“The next move is all yours, Karkles, whatever you want it to be,” and with a last tap of her cane onto Karkat’s knee, Terezi turned around and left without looking –or sniffing– back.

Karkat watched her go, utterly confused and with a growing sense of annoyance spreading from his guts.

Why was she sending mixed signals again, what was she hoping for? Was she trying to send Ashen hints his way? Was Karkat reading her all wrong? Why was Terezi being so…

So…

_Black._

Things finally clicked in Karkat’s head, and the knot in his stomach snapped instantly.

He hoisted himself up, hands slightly trembling as he cautiously brushed his clothes, fingers pressing where the cane had hit him. It didn’t hurt –it had been merely a nudge.

Karkat was finally learning how to read those nudges.

With a small, hopeful smile, he turned around again and resumed his walk towards Gamzee’s hiding spot.

***

Gamzee’s respiteblock of choice was in the depths of the meteor, lost in a maze of corridors and transportalizers, and even Karkat at first had trouble remembering the right combination to get there.

At first he had been afraid that the Indigo troll would refuse to talk to him, even if they were moirails, but Gamzee had reassured him, without words but with simple, gentle gestures (that reminded Karkat of before he turned sober) that this would never happen.

They were moirails. It worked.

If Gamzee hadn’t wanted him to find out where he was, he wouldn’t have dropped all those hints for him to find –things that only Karkat as his moirail would be able to follow.

After Gamzee had made it clear that he wasn’t going to come out of the room, at least not by usual means, Karkat had taken upon himself to visit him at least twice every night, bringing him enough alchemized food to keep him from starving.

The other troll didn’t seemed malnourished in any way though, and even if Karkat had to force him to get up and go to the ablution trap sometimes, he was also clean and mostly groomed. He _could_ take care of himself.

He wasn’t a baby, by any means, and Karkat had felt relieved that Gamzee was stable enough.

There was a different quality of sharpness in Gamzee’s eyes that denoted how, despite being back to his own self, he was still perceptive and focused on the world around him, and Karkat, despite sometimes feeling chilled by the penetrant gaze of his moirail, was of the opinion this was way better than the glazed haze he’d been sporting before Sgrub.

Gamzee’s brain was working again, sharp and piercing, and sometimes Karkat had the feeling that he knew more than he should about the whole situation.

Even then, they almost never talked about the game, or what they would do once they reached the new session. Gamzee’s mental health was Karkat’s first priority during their jam sessions, and he would relax and talk about his own worries only after he’d listened to Gamzee’s rants.

But with the trouble Karkat had to sort through his own feelings for Dave, he had postponed seeing Gamzee for a few days, and it was with a deep knot in his stomach that he pushed the door of his respiteblock open.

“Gamzee? Are you in here?” he slowly peered inside the room.

The respiteblock was empty.

Karkat shivered, stepping inside and flicking the lights on.

The ablution trap door was open, and there was nobody in there either.

Karkat tried not to panic. Sometimes Gamzee seemed to disappear, sliding through the vents of the meteor’s lab, and by what Dave had said, sometimes he even stalked him, though that was rare, especially as of late. Still, he could be anywhere right now, but that didn’t mean he was completely gone, or in danger.

He was simply not in his room.

Licking his dry lips in worry, Karkat stomped into the room and groaned when he noticed how the pile was once again scattered around the room.

“You could at least stop throwing stuff around like a wriggler,” he grumbled, starting to put everything back up in a neat pile.

“PiLiNg Up AlL tHe MiRaClEs Is Up To MaKiNg A bRo Be HaPpY wHeN hE gEtS tO cOmInG bAcK hOmE”.

Karkat’s bloodpusher lurched inside him and he spun around, coming face to face with Gamzee.

The taller troll was staring down at him, fingers fiddling with his sylladex, a small burst of colour before the cards were placed back inside the folds of his pants. Karkat swallowed thickly, his thinkpan seizing as he unwillingly remembered the fear of being hunted down, before they had finalized their Moirallegiance, but the moment he met Gamzee’s eyes, he relaxed.

Gamzee was staring at him with warmth, the smallest hint of a smile on his lips, and that was enough for Karkat to feel guilty about the residual fear he still harboured at times.

He trusted Gamzee, but he couldn’t help it if sometimes the memory of his rage still came up.

“Where the fuck did you go this time, you massive douche?! I am here to talk to you and you just have to _disappear_. Where to? I fucking hope you were not in Dave’s respiteblock again, or I swear to your desecrated messiahs I–”

“DoN’t Be GeTtInG yOuR dIgEsTiVe ChUtE aLl In A tWiSt,” Gamzee leaned forwards, pressing his forehead against Karkat’s. So close, the shorter troll could see the orange tinge in Gamzee’s eyes fade away. “I dIdN’t MoThErFuCkInG iNvAdE nObOdY’s BlOcK bRo, I wAs Up To SoMe BeAuTiFuL wAlK oN tHe SuRfAcE, eMpTyInG mY pAn Of AlL tHeM tEmPtAtIoNs”.

Karkat swallowed the lump in his throat, took a deep breath, and slapped Gamzee’s arm.

“You fucking _moron_!” he growled, tugging the taller troll into his room and shoving him towards the growing pile. “Do I have to remind you there’s a fucking homicidal vampire out for your indigo out there? It might have evaded your delusional thinkpan, but I’m trying to save your fucking life, god only knows why I’m trying so hard here when you go ‘all up and around’ the meteor on your own, fuck”.

Karkat was actually happy that the rage had washed away all his fear, because right now, he was _furious_.

Gamzee allowed himself to be dragged to the pile, and sat on the few things Karkat had managed to put back together. The shorter troll started shoving the rest on Gamzee’s lap, and the Indigo simply waited, eyes following Karkat’s every move as he stomped around the room.

The pile finally back together, Karkat pushed Gamzee’s shoulder and sat down next to him, refusing to look up at the other troll.

With a small pout, Gamzee nudged Karkat on the arm. Karkat wriggled a bit, but didn’t move.

“WhAt DoEs A bRo HaVe To Do To Be AlL sHoWiNg HiS SoRrY sIdE,” Gamzee murmured, his chest rumbling softly.

Karkat sighed. He couldn’t truly stay angry at Gamzee, because the fucker was too pitiful for that. Besides, he looked fine. He was glad Rose was helping with keeping Kanaya occupied enough as of late.

He wondered if the two had tied up in pale or in red, then promptly kicked himself mentally for being so curious about someone else’s quadrants.

“I know you’re sorry, fuck, I just… I know you can take care of yourself but remember there’s someone worrying here, ok? Goddamn your edgy ass”.

Grumbling, Karkat turned around, allowing Gamzee’s hand to reach out and caress his cheek.

The taller troll was still touchy–feely, as usual, but as Karkat had initiated their moirallegiance as a way to shooshpap the other troll down, Karkat refused to hurry into their jams, initiating every contact slowly, with almost deliberated carefulness, to always reassure Gamzee that he meant business with their pale quadrant.

Karkat wondered how long did it take for Nepeta and Equius to start hugging, and decided that considering Equius’ utter inability to touch anything without either breaking it or fearing it would break, Nepeta had surely been the first to make contact, and the only one to continue it steadily.

A small cloud of guilt nabbed his heart, and Karkat pushed it away. No reason to think about them while with his moirail, especially since it had been Gamzee who had killed them both.

Gamzee was still trying to come to terms with his own actions, if their jams had anything to say on the matter, and Karkat could only hope that he would be able to help him through it before they hit the new universe.

He cursed under his breath; he hadn’t meant to let his thoughts run astray. He gently pushed Gamzee down, and wondered how to breach the subject.

“You’re going to shut up and listen to me while I babble about stuff now,” he commanded.

Gamzee simply grunted in agreement, one arm opening without hesitation, and Karkat let himself fall against him.

Now that he had tried what it meant to be pressed flush against Dave, the feeling of Gamzee’s body so close made Karkat even more aware of the differences between his moirail and his matesprit.

Gamzee’s body was pleasantly cool, soothing, as opposed to the heat that Dave radiated, that sent fire through his veins.

“I probably filled a quadrant today,” Karkat stated, then swallowed and continued, voice lowering a bit into a warning growl, “and if you’re going to say anything about motherfucking miracles I swear to god I’m going to shove one of your shitty horns down your protein chute and make it go honk”.

Gamzee lazily raised one hand and papped Karkat’s head, gently. The gesture, coupled with the scent that was distinctly Gamzee filling his nostrils, calmed Karkat down instantly.

“BrO gOnE aLl Up InTo BlInDsIs’ HeArT?”

Gamzee’s hand carefully pressed against his head, avoiding his horns, and Karkat let out a soft cracking noise. “… no,” he admitted. “Not yet. Not in the quadrant I thought I would have her, either,” he muttered. “But if I don’t ruin it being my usual obtuse self, I’ll have her in a quadrant I want her in nonetheless, so who the fuck cares”.

Once he had Dave stable enough in his red, and once he was sure they wouldn’t flip, or at least not completely flip, he could start to court Terezi in black.

The idea sent a sparkle of excitement through his body. Maybe that’s what they were destined to be –pushing each other to become better, stronger, to pose a good challenge to one another…

He could feel Gamzee’s confusion even without staring up at him, and stopped his inner rant to focus on the conversation at hand instead.

“I filled up my red quadrant with one of the h… with St… with _Dave_ ”.

Karkat had expected Gamzee to freeze up. He’d expected him to twitch or shift, or say something that would make it clear how he felt about the news. Karkat had expected Gamzee to demand to know what, how, motherfucking _why_ –

“YoU gOt YoUrSeLf A bItChInG rEdMaTe, BrO,” Gamzee’s voice was soft, and the slow, deep purring was unsettling. “PeRsOnAlLy ThInK hE’s AlL uP a MoThErFuCkInG cHiLl, CoOl FuCkEr, BeSt MoThErFuCkInG rApPiNg”.

Karkat pushed himself away from Gamzee to look at him. He found Gamzee’s eyes focused on a spot on the ceiling, and slowly followed it up, curious about the weird intensity in his moirail’s eyes.

Gamzee had somehow managed to reach the ceiling of his respiteblock, colouring it with swipes of chalk. The mass of colour didn’t seem like it meant anything, but it was the colour that made Karkat suddenly feel cold inside.

It was red.

it was just a circle, carefully coloured within its borders, with a weird swirl on one side that meant absolutely nothing to Karkat’s brain, but it was _red_ , and instantly he associated it to Dave.

During the first half sweep on the meteor, Gamzee had gotten his hands on a pack of chalk –probably stolen from Can Town, even if neither Terezi nor Dave (nor the Mayor) had complained about any chalk disappearing– and had proceeded to décor the walls of his respiteblock with colours.

There was no planned drawing, just blots of green, blue and brown hues, sometimes intermingling, sometimes simple lines from one side to the other of the room.

They never lasted for more than a day, maybe two, and Karkat had grown used to see them disappear from one day to the next, or change place.

Slowly, they had turned familiar, expected, and Karkat barely paid attention when he saw a new one.

They had never been red.

But now that he looked up, Karkat wondered how long that particular one had been there. If Gamzee had drawn it with the exact purpose of looking up at it every time he was sprawled on his pile.

As a reminder.

Karkat shivered a bit, and Gamzee returned his attention fully on him.

“What the fuck, Gamzee,” wriggling a bit, Karkat grabbed the other troll by his cheeks and forced him to look down, meeting his eyes. “I thought… after all the times you… that for…” his voice lost vehemence quickly, and he fell shut. He didn’t know what to think.

He had been worried of triggering Gamzee with saying Dave was in his quadrants, but he hadn’t expected this full, quiet acceptance.

He swallowed thickly when one of Gamzee’s fingers trailed down his cheek and caressed his neck, where the main bloodpump vein ran, eyes suddenly sharp as the glanced past Karkat’s head, staring at something the Cancer couldn’t see.

“WhAtEvEr MaKeS mY mOtHeRfUcKiNg PaLeBrO hApPy,” he rumbled softly. “WhIlE yOu’Re HaPpY, aIn’T bE gOiNg BrInGiNg No ShIt In It, No WoRrY, bRaIn Up AnD tHiNkInG mIrAcLeS wHeRe ThEy Be TiCkInG,” his eyes flickered back to Karkat, but only for a second. “TiMiNg ShIt AlL aNd Up WhErE iT bElOnGs, MaKiNg SuRe No MoThErFuCkInG dEtAiLs Go WhErE nObOdY’s LoOkInG, tHiNgS tIcK n’ ToC tOgEtHeR lIkE a MoThErFuCkInG gEar”.

Karkat glanced at him again, unsure of what Gamzee was saying, but still somewhat appeased with his promise. Gamzee wouldn’t hurt Dave, not if he was still concupiscent for him… and for the most part he was still the same as before –at least the side of him that Karkat could see and touch… so he would cling to that and hope everything would settle down.

They were quickly reaching the halfway point of their journey. There was still a long way to go, and Karkat was doing his best.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might have noticed the final number is 8. Yes, only one chapter left and then this ends. (I am unsure whether to place the bonus porn scene as an epilogue [ninth chapter] or as a separate one-shot).
> 
> I hope you liked!


	8. Where pale advances are made and Rose loosens up a bit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end. You still get another chapter with the porn, but by all means, this story is concluded.
> 
> I'm sorry it took so long, honestly, but i really was hesitant with the characterization, I just want things to work out as IC as possible.
> 
> Also, all the previous chapters have been edited for mistakes, adding a few things (though nothing too important), so now they should be ok :)
> 
> If you have anything to say, I really would love to hear it, because concrit is love and just telling me if you've liked this story would mean the world to me :D

Rose rapped gently on the door, alerting Kanaya of her arrival, and the troll looked up, not at all startled at the human’s appearance.

“I didn’t expect you so soon,” placing down the book she was holding, Kanaya turned to look as Rose approached her and sat down at the table. “Did your talk with Dave go the way you wanted it to?”

With a shrug, the Seer of Light pointedly refused to look at the troll, glancing down at her folded hands instead.

For a moment, they were both silent.

“You know you can confide in me, Rose,” Kanaya felt the need to add, shifting so that she could brush Rose’s knee with one hand. “I might have been slightly irritated at the mention of Gamzee…” she cleared her throat, “but that didn’t mean I was too preoccupied to notice your unusual reaction to the news of Karkat and Dave filling a quadrant”.

She might still feel angry at the clown for his actions, but it wasn’t important right now, not if she could be of help to Rose.

“Your perspicacity on the matter is impressive as usual, but I am not entirely sure how to explain the complexity of my thoughts on the matter,” Rose replied, looking at the hand on her knee and finally glancing up to meet Kanaya’s warm, open gaze.

The troll looked calm and encouraging, and Rose felt something inside her crumble slightly. Sometimes she wondered about how much she truly knew of trolls and their romance, aside for what she had gathered from her reading materials.

Sometimes she wondered about how much she truly knew of human romance, too, and the answer was never satisfactory –certain things were not meant to be learned through books, even Rose knew it.

“I admit the discovery that Karkat and Dave have romantic feelings for each other was rather abrupt and unexpected,” she finally muttered.

She clung to her articulate vocabulary, needing at least something to keep stable with how things suddenly didn’t make sense around her.

Kanaya’s hand retreated from her knee, and Rose found herself missing the warmth, even if Kanaya’s skin was usually colder than her own.

“Do you not favour the thought of them sharing a quadrant?”

“It’s just…” Rose shook her head and covered her eyes with one hand. She couldn’t possibly admit she hadn’t foreseen the chance of that happening, nor how weird it felt to look at Dave and how relaxed, open he looked all of sudden… all because of Karkat.

Of all the people on the meteor, Rose had expected Dave to reach out for Terezi the most. They were similar, in a way, and they had been close even before meeting in person.

If there was someone Rose was sure would manage to worm their way into Dave’s heart, that was Terezi, definitely not Karkat.

And yet Dave had fallen for him instead of her.

It was surprising, and confusing… and also a bit unsettling.

There was also another reason to be wary of what Karkat had called ‘interspecies relations’, but the moment the thought fluttered through her mind she viciously pushed it down.

“If you are feeling unsure about the direction this relationship is going to take, and if you’re maybe wondering where Terezi herself fits in,” Kanaya hesitantly spoke up, looking confused but calm, “you shouldn’t worry at all. Though I was the first to offer to Auspistice between them, they don’t _need_ me to. Karkat is perfectly capable of choosing his own quadrantmates, and he must have seen in Dave something worth pursuing, otherwise he would still be pining over Terezi’s affections. As for Terezi, she might be in need of Pale advice more than she would Ashen, but that isn’t my place, considering she has been quite open with her advances as of late”.

Rose’s frown made her pause.

“You surely noticed she has been, forgive me, preying on Dave to secure him to her pale quadrant,” Rose’s eyes widened, and Kanaya paused. “Rose, I thought you had a good grasp on their evolving situation, but maybe I underestimated the complexity of our troll romance…”

“No shit,” Rose muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Closing her eyes, she leaned on the table and licked her lips.

She had expected that the duration of their trip would coincide with romantic confusion, and she had thought she would be prepared and ready to confront it when it happened, but she’d still been taken by surprise.

And it had been Dave, of all people, who had done that.

Striders. To hell with them, with love.

“I don’t really see why you should worry so much. Dave is capable of deciding for himself how to work it out, and if things end up taking a turn for the worse, I am sure he will still have you to go to, even if you’re not his moirail,” Kanaya wasn’t sure what had shocked Rose so much, but she disliked seeing her friend so distraught. “Their situation is a bit confused, and it’s possible they might vacillate at some point, but they will work it out”.

It was with no small amount of hesitation that Kanaya reached out to brush her hand against the back of Rose’s hair. She didn’t want to give Rose any more grief with what could probably be interpreted as a quadrant-related gesture –Kanaya’s feelings in regards to Rose were unimportant at the moment.

Sometimes her constant analysing things made reading into Rose’s actions a lot harder, because the human would hint at feeling something red towards Kanaya, but the exact depth of that redness would be hard to decipher.

At times it would be so pale Kanaya’s heart _ached_ , while others… she would look at her in such a red, flirtatious way that it made her blood boil with pity and affection.

Kanaya had long since decided to let Rose come forth, one way or the other, but she guessed that a simple gesture such as touching her wouldn’t be misleading now that Rose needed it.

The grateful glance she received made Kanaya feel distinctly better.

Rose knew she had to make a choice of her own –Dave had gotten caught in not just one, but two different troll relationships, and it was probable he wasn’t giving it much of a thought, but Rose had always had the ability to look further ahead, seer powers or not.

There was a chance for them to fail miserably in their adventure.

There was a chance for them to win and have to go separate ways.

There was a chance that things would go smoothly, and they’d have a lot of time to further whatever bonds they created during that time.

She could see the one straight line that would bring them to the new universe, but when thinking about relationships, all she could glimpse were open ended events, not a single one she could use to navigate forwards with security.

She was powerless, and she was starting to realise that this was how it was meant to be. There was no easy way to tackle feelings, especially not those of a romantic kind, unless one wanted to put themselves on the line.

She was angry at herself because she was also stuck somewhere in the middle, unsure which way to go because she couldn’t see the outcome.

She was angry at Dave, because he had taken one direction and seemed to be doing so well already, opening up, allowing Karkat it, and Terezi…

She was angry at John and Jade because they were not there with them, because if they had, things would be less complicated… or maybe even more so, she couldn’t even See _that_.

She wanted to run to her bedroom and not come out until they safely landed in the new universe.

It was an irrational anger, Rose was aware of that, but it didn’t change how she felt.

And yet, she was also happy for Dave. To see him trust someone enough to want to have a relationship… it meant he was growing up.

She wanted to do the same –give her feelings a chance, see where they’d bring her, let them take control for once, instead of always trying to see the Best Possible Outcome.

Step into the line completely blind.

Decide whether to be a coward and stay back, ignore the nudges, and keep herself together, or let go, and face her fears.

Feelings always made Rose feel too much her age; despite the elaborate, rich prose and her rooted knowledge, in the end she was just the same as her brother and the four trolls on the meteor.

Teenagers dealing with their feelings for the first time.

They were not cool. They were not special, nor smart.

They were just that –teenagers.

She wondered, for a moment, what would her mother think, and the thought didn’t bring her the usual sting of pain. She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to think about her alternate timeline mother, now a teenager.

Did she have to go through so many romantic troubles?

Kanaya’s hand on her neck was pleasant, a nice distraction from the jumbled mess of her thoughts, so Rose took a deep breath and concentrated on that.

Was it so bad, in the end, to refuse to see the possible outcomes and simply live it through?

For a Seer, that was an alarmingly scary possibility.

And for Rose…?

“It looks like I need to spend some time relaxing,” she finally stated, opening her eyes and looking at Kanaya from behind her parted fingers. “I might have seriously overestimated the situation”.

The troll’s lips twitched upwards in a relieved smile. “I’d say,” she agreed, relaxing and moving her hand away. “Do you want me to leave you alone?”

“… no, please. You know I enjoy your company,” Rose smiled warmly, openly. “You seem to be the only sane being present on this meteor”.

“You are forgetting about the Mayor,” Kanaya supplied, but her tone was teasing.

“Yes, how could I forget about our dear public figure,” Rose chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind you assisting me in the creation of a celebratory sweater for Dave’s newfound quadrant if you are so inclined,” she added after a moment of deep thought. “Your in-depth knowledge will be needed, I think”.

“Is this a typical human congratulatory ceremony?” Kanaya wondered, though by Rose’s smirk, she had a pretty good idea that wasn’t the case.

“You could say it’s a typical Strider-Lalonde tradition,” Rose replied.

She stood up, and she was still smiling, her stance less tense than she’d been for the last months.

It made her seem taller, and much more radiant.

Kanaya smiled, her bloodpusher fluttering contentedly in her thoracic cavity, and motioned for Rose to follow her.

***

Dave navigated through the corridors of the meteor, easily reaching his personal room, where he knew Terezi was waiting for him.

She had made herself at home there, even bringing some of her things and dropping them around, and while it was weird to divide his sleeping space with an alien troll girl, Dave had long since gotten used to it.

The door slid open, and Dave blinked. Terezi was waiting for him sprawled in a pile of shit right in the middle of the room, and as he stepped inside, she glanced up at him, smiling and patting a spot right at her side.

“That…” Dave paused, looking at where Terezi was sitting. “That is a pile,” he stated.

“Great show of observation, coolkid,” she replied, motioning for him to get close. “Now get in there before I use law to enforce you to comply”.

He sighed, but made his way towards the pile, glancing down at the various plushies and other stuff; he didn’t remember having all that much stuff around, but only half of what was there was Terezi’s, so he guessed the troll had a better understanding of his sleeping space than he did.

Go figure –the girls in his life knew him inside out, while he had a hard time understanding them. Girls, no matter if alien or related to him or whatever, were still strange.

He slid hesitantly into the pile, vaguely aware that he was probably sitting on the head of one of those creepy dragon plushies, and recognised one of his shirts peeking from under Terezi’s arm.

“Are we having a pilefest?” he asked, eyebrow peeking from above the line of his shades.

Terezi leaned closer, all wide smirk and sharp angles, and nudged his side with a pointy finger. “Feelings jam, Dave,” she corrected him. “And yes, we’re having one right now”.

“Isn’t that…” pushing her prodding finger away, Dave tried to get comfortable. “isn’t that something you usually do with your moirail?”

She didn’t answer, but her grin turned slightly wider.

“So…” Dave wasn’t sure what to say.

“So?” she prodded him, waiting for him to keep talking.

“So why are you doing… this?” he asked, though he was quite aware that the ‘why’ had everything to do with Karkat and how he was currently occupying his red quadrant.

Terezi’s face twisted in a small pout. “Dave, you wound me in my vascular pumps!” she looked upset, but Dave had learned to read her well, and he knew she was mocking him. “I just thought it was about time I started upping my ante,” she added.

Her pout dissolved in a serious face, and Dave tensed up, sensing the abrupt mood shift.

“Rezi…”

She poked him in the chest, interrupting him, and pushed him down onto his back, then hesitantly curled closer to him, though not exactly touching yet.

“I allowed you time to understand things on your own, Dave,” she stated, fingers playing with one of Dave’s shuriken. “I tested the waters, and moved slowly, but you’ve been blinder than me about… all of this”.

She pointed at the pile, and Dave frowned, not understanding.

“You didn’t say anything about me bringing my stuff over,” she reminded him, and he nodded, though he still didn’t see the point she was trying to make. “Your denseness smells like fried cryplants,” she wrinkled her nose and looked up at him, as if waiting for him to finally get it.

Dave looked down at the objects in the pile, then at Terezi.

There were her scalemates, yes, but there was also one of her shirts, a pillow, chalk pieces, and more stuff that belonged to Terezi. He didn’t mind it there, it just served to remind him of that crazy troll.

It was amusing she’d had enough of it to make a pile, even though she’d used some of Dave’s stuff, too…

Dave stilled.

Terezi sniffed, and her smirk reappeared as wide as before.

“Something you want to say, coolkid?”

“You… you were making your paleass moves on me,” he stated.

He had a lot of handy examples of moiraildom –moirallegiance, whatever– every time Gamzee popped out from the vents and Karkat had to shooshpap him into submission and back into his room before Kanaya found him, but he’d never honestly wanted to know much about it.

When Rose joked around with him about Terezi, it was just that… a joke. Dave and Terezi had never _defined_ their friendship. Dave had never truly considered her girlfriend material, if only because they had clicked as friends instantly and despite Karkat’s belief that they were dating behind his back, they had never done anything ‘red’ in troll standards.

Dave had never truly considered it as pale either, simply because he didn’t get where it was supposed to be _romantic_.

Until now.

Terezi had definitely done the courting there.

“Did they work?” there was a slight edge of worry in her voice, and it was only then that Dave realised just how good he’d gotten at reading her.

He groaned.

“You’ve been training me to the ways of moiraildom since the start, have you?”

Wrinkling her nose, she shook her head. “Not really,” she admitted. “I had fun with you, Dave, and I considered you a friend even before you got on the meteor with us. But I hadn’t honestly considered you moirail material at first”.

He relaxed a bit, still refusing to look at her.

“What changed?”

“You were extremely deliciously pitiful,” she replied, but her smile was gentler. “How could I not fall for the resident coolkid?”

“You are aware that humans don’t quite get into the whole quadranty thing, right?” he replied, but the words tasted bitter in his mind.

It surprised him to realise he was actually pleased.

If Terezi had already treated him as moirail, slowly directing him down that path, she’d done a pretty good job, because Dave really didn’t mind.

“Does that mean you’re going to back out and give up even before you try?”

Dave pushed himself up in a sitting position, and stared down at Terezi. “Striders don’t back out from anything, ever,” he stated.

“Oh?”

“Also,” he smirked back, tapping her on the nose, “Striders don’t try. We get it right the _first_ time”.

Terezi leaned up, grabbing his arm and pushing him down on the pile, then flopped down on his chest, head leaning on her crossed arms. Dave hesitated before wrapping one arm around her.

She felt thin and almost frail in his hold, but he knew just how dangerous and lethal she could be when she wanted to.

It was different from holding Karkat, too –there was intimacy, but without the fluttery stomach and the heat. It felt almost like with Rose, but not the same either. And he didn’t really do _hugs_ with Rose.

Terezi laughed a bit, but her body was relaxed against his own, and Dave relaxed as well. She offered him her hand, index and middle fingers spread open, waiting, and he obliged her with an eyeroll, completing the diamond with his own hand.

“This seals the deal,” he muttered.

“The jury declares Dave Strider absolved from his previous denseness,” she replied, satisfied. “You’re on parole, though, so do not think you’re free to go”.

For a while neither spoke, simply enjoying the silence.

Dave sighed, feeling oddly comfortable, but the pleasant feeling had a bitter aftertaste that he knew he’d have to confront sometimes soon.

“Terezi…”

He felt her tense again, and she pulled away from him.

“Stop right there, coolkid,” she put one finger on his lips, and he grunted. “No, Dave, let _me_ speak ok?”

He nodded, exhaling against her finger. “Shoot”.

“There was a time before Sgrub when Karkat and I had… a ‘thing’ going,” she looked down at her hands, curled around the head of her cane, stroking down the curve of the dragon face. “But I didn’t know what I wanted, and he irritated me a lot, and I think I irritated him a lot, too”.

Dave snorted, but managed to cover up the sound with a cough.

Karkat might be his crush, but he wasn’t delusional –he still had a lot of ways to irritate Dave. And while he liked Terezi, she was also batshit crazy. In a good way. But still crazy.

It sort of hurt to admit, but he could see how they could be good for each other.

“Then there was Sgrub,” Terezi continued talking, her tone slightly more hesitant, and Dave swallowed the dryness in his mouth.

Terezi had been good at wriggling her way into his life so that he could accept her in easily, but there was a side of vulnerability in the whole idea of moirallegiance that made him almost queasy.

He wasn’t good at feelings. He wasn’t good at _listening_ and cheering someone up, or at opening up to someone.

Then again, were trolls all that different?

He guessed that was why things like moirails existed –if they were all busy maiming each other and fighting to death, they had to find someone to trust their shit to that would back them up.

If Terezi wanted that from him, he would try hard to make it work.

“I really didn’t think about him for a while, and then we met you guys,” he could see her lips twitch upwards. “I started thinking about it again, because we had time and we were not dead yet, and I was… afraid of not getting another chance”.

Dave couldn’t say he knew what it meant –he had been so focused on getting out of it alive that he had never thought about feelings until they had kicked him in the guts and forced him to consider the option that he had a thing for loud trolls.

But then he thought of Rose, of the Green Sun, and looked away. She was his sister, but that didn’t mean he didn’t _love_ her, albeit platonically. He’d been ready to die with her, after all, simply because he couldn’t let her do it alone.

“He has spent so long saying he was flushed for me, but never to my face, sidestepping the whole situation like a grub, and then he started saying he wanted me in every quadrant, the idiot,” Terezi spoke up again, shaking him out from his train of thoughts. “It annoyed me because he didn’t even try, but he got so angry when I was around you that it made it easy for me to play along and coax him. I was also an idiot, and I didn’t know what I wanted from him either”.

“Wait,” Dave blinked, pushing his shades up. It didn’t even occur to him until they were already on top of his head, but Terezi didn’t even look, though her nostrils flared in recognition. He hastily continued. “You were red for him right? Not black, you don’t _hate_ him”.

“Blackrom doesn’t mean what you think, Dave,” she replied, pouting. “I think human hate is actually different from what we consider hate. There is still fondness between kismesis, just it’s not about hugging and holding hands. It’s about competitiveness and wanting to one-up each other. Being blunt, brutally honest, but also caring. You can’t be a kismesis if you don’t have strong feelings for the other. You want them to be better, and be worth of your feelings. You want them to succeed, and only reveal their weaknesses to you, not to any other troll,” she explained, tapping the cane on the ground. “And hatesnogging,” she added, smirking viciously.

He chuckled. “I will never get your weird quadrants, and fuck, I got myself two of them filled without even trying”.

“You’re the quadrant pimp, Dave, it’s you”.

They shared a soft laugh before Terezi sighed again.

“Karkat chose you, though,” she stated. The words sounded final, and she paused for a moment, then pressed her forehead against Dave’s side. “In red”.

“I’m sorry”.

“Don’t be, coolkid,” she muttered, hands clenching around Dave’s shirt. “I might still have him”.

He blinked. “Wait, did you settle down for a blackrom with Vantas because you couldn’t get him in red?” he wasn’t sure how to react to that.

The trolls –usually Karkat, with his loud, brash ways– had tried explaining him about trollmance, but he hadn’t been particularly interested about it at all. He didn’t care if they wanted one, three, fifteen lovers, because it didn’t relate to him…

And now it _did_.

He’d just started understanding what red meant, and there he was, accepting the position of palemate, and then finding out Terezi was making black moves on his own boyfriend-slash-matesprit.

He wasn’t sure he was completely ok with having to share Karkat –the thought of him and Terezi flirting still made him uneasy, inadequate and weird; especially since Karkat had always wanted her in Dave’s position, too.

But there was something he owed to Karkat, and he owed it to Terezi, too. He would trust them both. If they ended up flipping… he didn’t know what he’d do, but there was no reason to bring up heartache before the shit hit the fan.

He’d need to find out more about blackrom, and what it was supposed to be, but not right now. He had enough to think about as it was.

Terezi chuckled, buried in his shirt. “It’s not a step down, Dave, blackrom isn’t a second choice when you can’t have someone in your red. Red and black have different feelings, for us. I wanted him in both, one, either, though I didn’t know where he’d fit… and now I think that… black sort of fits us better”.

Dave wasn’t sure she was telling the truth, but didn’t call her out on it, simply because he didn’t know enough of quadrants to understand.

He wondered how it felt, to have the chance to like not just one, but two other people and have everything fit together, and wondered if as a human, he would ever be able to understand, or not.

Thinking about Gamzee, he wasn’t _sure_ if he wanted to know that.

“What happens if it doesn’t work? What happens if he was meant to be red for you?” the question left his lips on its own accord, and he stiffened, but he felt Terezi lift one arm to gently pat him on the cheek.

“Shoosh,” she murmured, her tone amused. “I am quite satisfied as it is. You believe me, do you Dave?”

He looked down at her, at her softer smile and wide, red eyes hidden behind equally red shades; she looked small and for a moment, he wanted nothing more than protect her, even from himself. He knew that she could take care of herself, probably better than he could, but that didn’t diminish the strength of his need.

He wasn’t quite convinced, but he relented. There would be time to talk about it.

They had all the time they needed, with another year to go.

“Yeah,” he muttered, looking up at the ceiling. “I do”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!


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